Dragon Ball Next Generations II
by DBDF
Summary: *READ PART I FIRST* Dominick, Dalton, and Martin find themselves in Otherworld after their brutal battle with Hotokira. They are on a mission to find some very important people who have disappeared, including Dominick and Dalton's father. Follow the three of them as the travel deeper within themselves, and as the weapon of the sword becomes more of a comrade.
1. The Otherworld Tournament

Dragon Ball Next Generations Part II: Afterlife

_Chapter XLIII: The Otherworld Tournament_

It had been only one month since Dominick, Dalton, and Martin arrived in Otherworld. Everything seemed normal. There had been no leads regarding the disappearance of those King Yemma mentioned. He told them to just wait, and that he was sure something would surface before too long. They didn't mind. They were already having a lot of fun training together in Otherworld, along with meeting many of the Universe's past heroes. Everyone had little halos floating above their heads to signify that they were dead, so that took some getting used to, and it did not go without some teasing of each other. And they also had one more thing to look forward too. The long-famed Otherworld tournament was beginning.

They had yet to visit the living world. King Yemma had promised them frequent visits, but Fortune-teller Baba had fallen extremely ill. However, they were able to frequently speak to their loved ones because of King Kai's telepathy. Dominick told Ichimei that he was searching for his father, and not to wish him back. There was no wedding ceremony planned for them in the near future, but the two were already practically married. Martin and Rika also talked everyday. Dalton hadn't talked to Sakumi at all. There was still a little bit of tension between him and the other two. Even though both Martin and Dominick had voiced their forgiveness and that it wasn't his fault, he still held guilt.

_"ALRIGHTY!"_ They heard the Otherworld announcer over the loudspeaker. Everyone was already waiting in the field surrounding the giant square tile ring. The announcer was a little imp-looking guy who couldn't have been more than two feet tall with a mushroom for a head. His only facial feature was his mouth. Everyone definitely made fun of his appearance behind his back._ "TODAY IS THE DAY! WE'RE STARTING THE OTHERWORLD TOURNAMENT! THE RULES ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS TIME! FIGHTERS ENTER THE TOURNAMENT INDEPENDENTLY OF THEIR GALAXY'S KAI, SO THIS TIME, WE HAVE A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF FIGHTERS FROM EACH GALAXY! WITH THIRTY TWO FIGHTER TOTAL, WE HAVE SIX FROM THE WEST, SEVEN FROM THE SOUTH, FIVE FROM THE EAST, AND A WHOPPING FOURTEEN FROM THE NORTH! SINCE THERE ARE DIFFERING AMOUNTS OF FIGHTERS FROM EACH GALAXY, ONLY THE FIGHTER THEMSELVES WILL RECEIVE THE PRIZE FOR WINNING THE TOURNAMENT: A PRIVATE TRAINING SESSION WITH THE SECOND NAGA OF OTHERWORLD!"_ The entire crowd of about 10,000 people erupted after hearing this. Apparently, the Naga was the one named the absolute strongest fighter in Otherworld, and it was a fairly new addition to the system. The Grand Kai didn't like it very much, but there was not much that he could do. The fighters were starting to respect the Naga more than Grand Kai himself. _"THE ONLY RULES THIS TIME ARE THAT YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO KILL YOUR OPPONENT! YOU MAY USE ANY OTHER METHODS NECESSARY TO WIN! INCLUDING WEAPONS!" Dalton made a silent motion of satisfaction. "YOU WIN IF YOUR OPPONENT IS UNCONSCIOUS, DOWN FOR TEN SECONDS, FALLS OUT OF THE RING, OR GIVES UP! NOW, WE NEED ALL OF OUR FIGHTERS TO HEAD INSIDE TO DRAW YOUR SPACES ON THE BRACKET! THIS WILL BE OUR BIGGEST TOURNAMENT YET, WITH FIVE ROUNDS, EACH ELIMINATING HALF OF THE CONTESTANTS! ALRIGHT, CONTESTANTS, FOLLOW ME!"_

Dominick, Dalton, and Martin followed the little mushroom man into the room in the back of the arena. "Man, I hope this isn't a breeze." Dominick said.

Olibu, a big, muscular greek-style hero with long blonde hair, slapped him on the back. "Oh, rookie, you're in for a good time."

"I really hope so." Dominick replied.

He was from the North Galaxy, like the three of them, and King Kai was always bragging to the other Kais about him. He was his "prized fighter", and then he would always say, "behind Goku, of course." Dominick felt kind of bad for him.

The fighter Pikkon walked up next to them. He and Olibu slapped hands. "You really remind me of Goku, new kid. With your tail and that attitude, there's no way it's a coincidence."

Dominick rubbed the back of his head. "He's my ancestor. His too." He pointed at Dalton. His little brother didn't pay them any mind.

"And you too?" Olibu asked Martin.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm a descendent of Vegeta, a close friend and rival of Goku's."

"So you know Goku?" Dominick inquired. "I figured he ended up here at some point, but I thought that was a long time ago."

"We've been here a long time, kiddo." Olibu replied.

"And Goku left quite the imprint on us fighters, as well." Pikkon added. "He showed up out of nowhere and won the Otherworld tournament."

"It was a tie, wasn't it?" Olibu argued.

"It was ruled a tie because we both touched the ceiling at the same time, but if that hadn't happened, he would have won." Pikkon explained.

"I guess we have big shoes to fill." Dominick said to them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the finals come down to two of you guys." Olibu said.

"I agree, but don't think we'll go down without a fight." Pikkon added.

Dominick smiled at them. "I hope not."

Olibu roared with laughter straight from his gut and slapped Dominick on the back again.

They entered the room, and it was a little dark and a little musty, but it seemed comfortable enough. "This will be your break room as well, where you rest after your matches." The mushroom man sounded a lot different without his speaker. "We have an empty bracket here, and I'm thinking we'll just randomly draw lots. Alphabetical order should work." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Uhmm...Tenka Alany?" A pale, bald man with a light blonde mustache walked up to the mushroom man, and next to him was a table with a box with a hole in the top. "There's thirty two cards in there, each with a different number. Just close your eyes, pick one, and read me the number." Tenka nodded.

His burly forearm barely fit in the box. Dominick wondered how Olibu was going to pick a card. "Twenty-one." He said. The announcer quickly counted twenty one spaces from the left and wrote his name in that space.

"Next is...Merana Anhia." She went up and repeated the process. This was going to take a while.

"Fourteen."

Dominick, Dalton and Martin tuned out the rambling of the announcer. "Hey," Dalton started, "have you seen that guy with spiky hair and the green shirt?"

"What?" Dominick looked around and saw him. He had dark brown hair that stuck out sideways in both directions, and much of his hair in the back was tied into a ponytail that hung down to his lower back. His eyes were also a dark brown and looked straight ahead. "What about him?"

Martin looked as well. "What? He just looks serious about the tournament."

"No, look at what he's holding." Dalton responded to both of them. He was holding a sword. It had a black hilt, and a golden, petaled guard. It was similar - no, identical to Dominick's sword.

"He's got a sword just like mine." Dominick exclaimed in a whisper. "What-"

"Dalton Fiscalini?" The announcer called.

"We'll just keep an eye on him." Dalton said. "He could be our first lead to finding Dad." He reached his hand in the box and pulled a card out. "Five." He told the announcer.

"Thank you…" The announcer mumbled as he wrote the name down, then looked back at his clipboard. "Dominick Fiscalini? Huh? It's not often we have two of the same last name enter the tournament."

Dominick walked up and grabbed one of the cards from the box. He looked down and saw the number. _Uh-oh._ "Three." _That's really close to Dalton's number. I was hoping we would be more spread out._

"Looks like we'll be fighting sooner than later." Dalton said upon his return.

After the announcer wrote his name down, he looked back at Dalton. "I guess we have until the third round, that's not _super_ soon."

Dalton looked at the board as well. "Oh, I guess I already know who I'm fighting, as well. Arujan Cathar? I don't know what he looks like. I should have been paying attention."

Upon another look, Dominick said, "Oh, my opponent's already up there, too. I'm going against...uhh...Serom Ethel."

"We should listen to the names from now on." Martin said. "It would be good to know _that_ guy's name." The brothers nodded in agreement.

"Woah." The announcer said. "Another two with the same last name? Kaoren Hashai, then Nyoriyo Hashi."

Kaoren went up first, and Nyoriyo, who was presumably his twin brother, follow behind. The two looked very similar. Their hair was a solid brunette color and both spiked up and hung to the side a little bit. The only difference was that Kaoren's eyes were a little but thinner, and his hair hung to the opposite side that Nyoriyo's did. "Seven." Kaoren said.

"Eight." Nyoriyo looked at his brother. "No way." He smiled genuinely at him. Kaoren rolled his eyes.

They were starting to want to tune the announcer out again. "Kasae Itsumi."

A man in glasses and spiked up hair walked forward. He wore a heavy black hoodless jacket with a high-riding collar. He also had the same sword as Dominick.

The three of them watched him closely as he drew from the box. "Twenty Five." He said.

"Soriyamo Kageyoshi." The man in the green shirt walked up. The three boys watched even more intently now. He looked so graceful as he moved, like his head was barely bobbing up and down as he stepped.

"Thirty two." The last spot.

The lottery drew on. Martin was only a couple names after Soriyamo. "Twenty two." The announcer wrote him down. He would be fighting Tenka Alany in the eleventh fight.

A couple names after that, it was Olibu. There were a couple sounds made from the other fighters. "Twenty six." He was fighting Kasae. Dominick heard 'poor kasae' from some of the other contestants more than once.

Pikkon was right after that. The sounds from the fighters were louder than last time. "Thirty one." He said. Dominick, Dalton, and Martin all looked at each other. He was fighting Soriyamo.

Olibu laughed and slapped Dominick's back again. "That Soriyamo guy is in trouble."

Dominick smiled and laughed. Dalton was not as amused. "I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up the other way." He said.

Olibu looked at him, confused. "Whatever you say, kiddo." He walked off to go talk to Pikkon. It was nice that fighters were entering individually now, because the Kai's personal squabbles wouldn't get in the way of their friendly competition.

Martin tapped Dalton's shoulder. "Look, that blonde guy over there has the same sword as well."

"You're right." He replied. A pale, tall, blonde man in a white gi with black pants stood walked up next to Soriyamo and said something to him. His hair hung all the way to his knees and looked super silky. It fell completely straight down except for two little spikes on the top of his head.

"Fahra Wisto." The announcer called.

"We're almost done." Dominick said. "I'm getting restless. I'm going almost right away." He was in the second fight. Dalton was in the third.

"Two."

"Shirako Yasufumi."

His blonde hair flowed behind him in the air as he strode up to the box. "Seventeen." He said while looking at his card. He walked back to Soriyamo. "Unfortunately, we're both in the second half." He said. "We won't be able to fight in the final round."

"That is fine." Soriyamo said. "I have someone in particular I want to fight in the final round." Dominick was watching, and he thought Soriyamo looked at him, but he turned away too quick to be able to tell.

"Aaroc Ynatta?"

"Twenty."

"Alright, I think that does it." The announcer said. "The matches will be fought in order from left to right, find which match you're in and plan accordingly."

A man in a brown gi got up real close to the board and looked at everyone's names, not just his. He jumped with joy as he finished looking over the brackets. "Yeah! All the strong guys are in the second half! Looks like I'll see you in the finals, Soriyamo!" Several other contestants laughed at this display, including the Hashai twins and Shirako. Even Soriyamo smiled. Kasae was the only one that kept a solemn face.

Dominick and Dalton rolled their eyes. "The strong guys are all in the second half?" Dalton said.

"What a jerk." Dominick added.

"I have to agree with his statement." Martin teased. This was coming from the only one in the second half out of the three of them.

_"ALRIGHTY!"_ They hadn't even noticed the mushroom man leave the room. _"WE'LL START THE FIRST MATCH RIGHT AWAY! CAN CONTESTANTS RYU KEIN AND FAHRA WISTO PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

"They're starting already, huh?" Dominick said. "I guess I should start stretching or something. My match is next."

"This won't be such a breeze like that other tournament." Martin said. "Remember, we met in that tournament."

"Oh, yeah, huh." Dominick replied. That felt so long ago. It was before the Black Sclera started to surface. But this tournament would definitely be a different story. In fact, if they would have entered at the strength they were at for the last tournament, it's likely they would have gotten their asses handed to them. And there was Soriyamo, Shirako, and Kasae as well, who all wielded the exact same sword as he did. Whether or not they ended up being a lead in finding his father, he hoped they would be really strong at least.


	2. Round One Begins

_Chapter XLIV: Round One Begins_

Ryu and Fahra stepped onto the ring. They could both hear East and South Kai arguing in the stands. Ryu was from the South Galaxy and Fahra was from the East. Ryu was a lean man with a brown scruffy beard that extended an inch or two down from his chin. He had long hair that he slicked back, but still fell off to the sides. He wore a black jacket and black sweatpants. Fahra was a darker skinned man with navy-blue colored hair that covered one eye and a white turban on his head. His wore no shirt and white pants. They both were embarrassed by their Galaxy's Kais.

_"ARE THE FIGHTERS READY?!"_ They nodded their heads. _"THEN, BEGIN!"_

Fahra pulled two daggers out of his belt and rushed at Ryu. Ryu jumped back in retaliation. Fahra began twirling with his arms out at an extremely high speed. The tornado of daggers was moving dangerously close to Ryu and they were approaching the edge of the ring. They were wasting no time. Before he knew it, Ryu was trapped in the corner. He ran toward Fahra and slid on the ground under the daggers. He knocked Fahra's feet out from under him, causing him to fall forward and slam his face on the tile.

_"OOOHHHH! CONTESTANT WISTO IS DOWN! ONE! TWO! THREE! HE'S BACK UP ON THE COUNT OF THREE!"_

Fahra ran at Ryu again, but more controlled this time. With a clever feint, he was suddenly behind Ryu and had him in a chokehold. "Give up, Ryu." He said. "There's nothing you can do now."

Ryu flexed his muscles and many veins started to show through. Suddenly everyone in the audience felt a draft, then felt the wind flow back in toward Ryu. Then it stopped. It was completely silent. Ryu then let out a deep yell and Fahra was forced off of his back, and then blown full force out of the ring and into the stands. Just after that, the audience was almost blown out of their seats as well. The announcer, who had no seat, was blown off the ground and into the wall below the seats.

After some groaning, he got up. _"RYU HAS KNOCKED FAHRA OUT OF THE RING! RYU MOVES ON TO ROUND TWO!"_

Ryu walked off the stage as the crowd erupted. He wasn't too tired, but there was sweat glistening off of his forehead. Dominick walked up to him. "That was quite the attack. How'd you do that?"

He smiled. "Nice try." Ryu said. "I wouldn't give away my attack to someone who may be my opponent next round."

Dominick awkwardly laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

_"ALRIGHT, IT'S TIME FOR THE SECOND MATCH! LET'S GET CONTESTANTS DOMINICK FISCALINI AND SEROM ETHEL OUT HERE!"_

Dominick was already standing in the doorway of the breakroom, so he looked back to see who his opponent was. His appearance sent shivers down his spine. It was an old man with shaggy white hair and a monocle. He had what looked like a fish tank in his chest. There was some sort of liquid in there. His right arm below the elbow had been made into a syringe. The two of them walked out onto the stage.

Dominick shuddered. "Man, this arena makes the one in the living world look like a little sandbox." He murmured to himself.

_"READY?! BEGIN!"_

Serom immediately pointed his syringe arm at Dominick the liquid inside of him started bubbling, and suddenly the liquid sprayed at him. It got all over him, and it was all gooey, but before he knew it, he was dry again. Time around him started to speed up.

"I slowed down your senses." Serom said. "Everything seems like it's going super fast, doesn't it?" Dominick could barely comprehend what he was saying, he was speaking so fast.

Then, Serom lunged at him. He was fast, but not as fast as Hotokira. Dominick closed his eyes and felt around. He felt Serom move right in front of him, and he took the opportunity to attack. Opening his eyes, he hit his opponent right in his oblique and sent him flying out of the ring.

_"JUST LIKE THAT, DOMINICK WINS! HE'LL BE FIGHTING RYU IN ROUND 2!"_

Everything began to return back to normal speed from Dominick's perspective. Even though his senses were slowed, he was able to react to Serom's movements. Was it just because Serom was slow, or was it because Dominick was on an entirely different level?

Dominick went back into the breakroom as the crowd cheered. Serom had to be carried off because he'd lost consciousness. Dalton greeted him at the door. "That was easy, huh?"

"I think it's better if we don't use our full strength in the early rounds. We may end up killing our opponents." Dominick said. Dalton nodded. These were supposed to be heroes from all over the Universe.

_"FOR THE THIRD ROUND, WE HAVE DALTON FISCALINI AND ARUJAN CATHAR! PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

"I think I'll just scare him into giving up." Dalton said.

"Probably a good idea." Dominick replied.

Arujan Cathar was a lean yet muscular man with a dirty blonde army flat-topped haircut and very defined jawlines. He wore a baggy dark blue shirt tucked into black pants. "There's a kid fighting here? How'd they even let you onto this planet, kid? You catch your mom after she tripped?" Arujan teased. Dalton ignored him.

The man in the brown gi approached Dominick. This would be interesting. He seemed to have a lot of energy. "Yo." He said while putting a hand on Dominick's shoulder. "Is that your brother out there?"

Dominick looked at the man. Their faces were actually similarly shaped, but Dominick's face just looked slightly younger. He had black hair tied in a ponytail out of which hair spewed in every direction. He reminded Dominick of one of the ancient ninjas from the old fantasy stories. However, there was something familiar about him, something that Dominick couldn't put his hand on. He just felt like they had something in common. "Yeah, he's my younger brother. We just got here a month ago."

"A month? That's super recent." The man said. "We've been here for a damn long while, but this is the first tournament we've been able to fight in." He took Dominick's hand and shook it, which surprised Dominick a little. "The name's Rari. Say, you've got a lot of power, don't you?"

This guy was talking a lot. Dominick thought for a little while about how to respond, then said, "I don't know. I've only done one punch. There's not a lot you can tell from that."

"I can tell." Rari said. "We'll probably end up fighting in the semifinals."

Then the two of them saw a huge tornado of flames erupt from the arena, and then they heard a terrified Arujan say, "I-I give up!"

_"AMAZING, DALTON DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO ATTACK, AND HE'S ALREADY WON! NEXT IS A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO MORE ROOKIES, AND GET THIS: THEY'RE TWIN BROTHERS! THIS SHOULD BE GOOD! CAN KAOREN AND NYORIYO HASHAI PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_ The crowd erupted.

"That is if I can beat Dalton in the quarterfinals." Dominick replied to Rari.

"That's true, your brother looks really strong as well." Rari said. "Well, I'm going to go out onto the field for this match. It's one I definitely don't want to miss. Good luck!" He called as he ran out to the field.

"What a strange guy." Dominick said to himself. He watched as he ran toward a girl that was already on the field.

"Lisa! My sweet Lisa!" He yelled. She cowered in a sort of comfortable fear, like it was some kind of gag.

"Please stop that, Rari. You're scaring me." She said, politely as can be. She looked adorable. She couldn't have been any older than Dominick when she'd died and come here, and she was dressed in a strange black kimono that covered a white gi. She almost reminded him of Ichimei.

By this time, Dalton was back in the breakroom and the Hashai twins were in the ring. Rari seemed to know these two, and he'd said that he didn't want to miss the fight. Something told him that there was merit behind Rari's words.

_"READY?! BEGIN!"_

Nyoriyo and Kaoren rushed at each other. They were so fast, Dominick thought that liquid from earlier was still affecting him.

They pulled no punches. It was like they were fighting to kill each other. Kaoren punched his brother in the face, but Nyoriyo didn't stop. He continued moving forward and punched Kaoren in the stomach. They were moving all around the ring like it was nothing. For every hit that Kaoren would land, Nyoriyo would land a counterattack. They were hitting really hard, too. Dominick found himself thinking that he wouldn't want to take any of those punches. Each blow sent a small shockwave that could actually be seen by those in the audience.

"Those two are really going at it." Martin said from behind Dominick and Dalton.

"Yeah they are." Dominick replied. "But look at them. They look like they're having so much fun." Even though they were already bruised all over their bodies, they both had smiles on their faces that went from ear to ear. "You better be paying attention, Dalton." He said. "Whoever wins this fight will be your opponent next round. They might give you a run for your money."

"Are you kidding?" Dalton retorted. "They may be strong, but they're no match for a Super Saiyan."

Dominick felt a gaze from someone else in the room when Dalton said that. He looked behind him to see who it was, but there was no one looking at him. He did see, however, that both Soriyamo and Shirako were also watching the fight intently. Kasae was in the back corner, sitting down. Dominick thought he was asleep at first, but suddenly he looked up and made eye contact with him. Dominick abruptly looked away. This was really strange. There were six contestants here that all seemed to know each other. And each of them was strange in their own way. Soriyamo, Shirako, and Kasae all had the same exact sword as Dominick. Kaoren and Nyoriyo were twins, and they were both super strong. Rari...was just strange in general. But how were they intertwined. Rari seemed so innocent, but he was talking to Soriyamo like it was nothing earlier, and Soriyamo just seemed really...suspicious, even aside from the sword.

_"WOAH, NYORIYO HAS BEEN KNOCKED DOWN!"_

Dominick looked back at the arena and sure enough, Nyoriyo was on the ground with Kaoren standing above him, panting. "What happened?" He asked.

"Haven't you been watching?" Dalton said. "They're pretty close in strength, but Kaoren has had a slight but apparent upper hand this whole time."

"I only looked away for a couple seconds." Dominick said. "They're already this tired after only this long?"

Martin looked at him. "Dude, they've been fighting for like five minutes already."

Dominick watched as Nyoriyo got up on the count of six. How long was he looking away for?

Nyoriyo ran at his brother with a ball of energy in his hand. A couple meters in front of him, he jumped up and over his head. In the middle of a front flip, he threw the energy ball down at Kaoren. Kaoren punched the energy ball and it exploded. He then jumped up and hit Nyoriyo in the jaw with an uppercut. He fell onto his back, but instantly got back up. The two ran at each other again and, both with the same idea, punched each other in the gut at the exact same time. Dominick felt the wind from the shockwave of that one. Nyoriyo staggered, and almost fell to his knees, but managed to stay standing. Kaoren jumped up high into the air, almost hitting the ceiling. He hardly realized there was a ceiling. It was painted like outer space, and it looked so realistic. He lowered himself a little to give himself a cushion in case he was pushed back. He aimed his palm down at the ring for a big energy blast, but Nyoriyo was flying straight at him with remarkable speed, and wasn't slowing down.

"Idiot, what are you trying to do?" He said. He continued to form the energy blast, but he'd underestimated his brother's speed. He'd also expected him to slow do a little bit so he could attack, but he didn't before the energy could manifest in his hand, Nyoriyo's head slammed into Kaoren's chest. It completely knocked the wind out of him, and made him a little dizzy, too. He started to fall. "Damn...he got me." He muttered to himself as he fell back to the ring. The ring cracked under the impact of his fall, causing some dust to rise. He hit so hard that he bounced a couple times before settling on the edge of the ring. The arena was completely silent. Once the dust cleared, the mushroom man ran over to the scene.

_"WHAT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! EVEN AFTER THAT STELLAR ATTACK, NYORIYO LANDED OUTSIDE THE RING! KAOREN IS THE WINNER!"_

The crowd cheered louder than any of the other matches. Kaoren struggled to stand up. "That idiot…" He said to himself. "He lost consciousness as soon as he hit me. I'm lucky that I landed where I did, or he would have been the winner."

_"WHAT AN AMAZING FIGHT! LET'S GIVE THEM BOTH A HAND!"_

Kaoren jumped off the stage to where his brother was lying. He hoisted him onto his back and carried him off into the breakroom while the crowd was still going wild.


	3. Kasae vs Olibu

_Chapter XLV: Kasae vs. Olibu_

The fifth match was Jeiba Hasta from the South Galaxy and Seja Luisto from the West Galaxy. After the match between Nyoriyo and Kaoren, Soriyamo shared a few words with Kaoren, and then Shirako took led Kaoren and his brother into the back room. Soriyamo saw them into the back, and then walked back to where he was before and sat down.

Dominick kept an eye on his every move. He heard the announcer start the fifth match, and spared a couple seconds to see how the fight was going, but it was mundane compared to the Hashai twins. Suddenly, Nyoriyo walked out of the back room, followed by Kaoren and Shirako. Shirako smiled and waved at Soriyamo, who nodded back. A man with dirty blonde hair that was all combed to one side and fell down to his chin walked up and patted Nyoriyo on the back, congratulating him. Rari flew in the front door past Dominick and tackled both of the brothers. Soriyamo let out a chuckle when the three of them fell to the ground. This whole exchange was so wholesome, Dominick felt bad for spying on him.

As Rari went back outside to join Lisa, he stopped by Dominick. "I told it would be good, didn't I?"

"Yeah, they really surprised me." Dominick said.

Practically everyone in the breakroom was talking to and congratulating the two fighters on an awesome match. Once they'd all left, Kaoren and Nyoriyo sat alone on a little semi-circular couch about halfway in between Dominick and Soriyamo. Dominick, Dalton, and Martin approached them. Up close, they looked really young. In fact, they couldn't be much older than twenty. "That fight was pretty amazing." Martin said.

"Thanks." Nyoriyo replied. He seemed too happy for a guy who just lost.

"It's too bad we couldn't use our full strength, huh, Nyoriyo?" Kaoren said, looking at Dalton.

"Is that a bluff to scare me?" Dalton asked.

"It may be to scare you, but it's not a bluff." He replied.

"Yeah, it would have been so much more fun to use our full strength." Nyoriyo said. He seemed to be getting excited just thinking about it. "Say, why don't we have a full on fight after this tournament's done?"

"Maybe." Kaoren said.

_"OOH, THAT HAD TO HURT! JEIBA IS UNCONSCIOUS, SO THAT MEANS SEJA MOVES ON TO ROUND 2!"_

Nyoriyo abruptly stood up. "Rari's up now." He said. "Let's go watch."

Kaoren shook his head. "This won't even be a fight." Then he looked at Dominick and Martin. "If you think we were strong, just wait until you see Rari fight for real."

"And Yosuhiro, too." Nyoriyo added.

Kaoren nodded in agreement. "Yosuhiro is just as us, but Rari is a whole step above. You won't be able to tell from this fight, but I'd still watch it if I were you."

"Rari and Yosuhiro are going to fight in the quarterfinals." Nyoriyo told them. "That should be really good."

_"CAN CONTESTANTS NASYIA FALEI AND RARI ATSUMO PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Rari was already out on the field, so he just hopped onto the ring and waited for Nasyia to come out. When he saw her, he leaned his head back and put his hand on top of it. "Man, I really have to fight a pretty lady?"

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." She replied. She was a beautiful dark skinned woman with soft green hair that was straight and fell to the middle of her back, and had a purple gem embedded in her forehead.

"Take it however you want." Rari said. "I don't find it within my morals to hit a woman, so I'll have to win some other way."

_"READY? BEGIN!"_

She leapt at him with surprising speed. So surprising, in fact, that Rari turned and ran. The crowd laughed. Dominick buried his face in his palms. So did Lisa.

Kaoren laughed. "That idiot's always got to be the comedian."

He was approaching the edge of the ring fast, but she was catching up to him faster. She caught up to him just as he reached the edge of the ring, and she went for a solid punch to knock him out of the ring, but he just disappeared. With all of that momentum, she couldn't stop herself and fell on her face in the grass. The audience went silent. Rari reappeared behind her.

_"I DIDN'T EVEN SEE A THING, BUT IT SEEMS NASYIA HAS FELL OUT OF THE RING, MAKING RARI THE WINNER!"_ The crowd was still silent. Everyone was either confused or disappointed at how that fight ended.

"You saw that, didn't you?" Kaoren said.

"Yeah." Dominick replied. "He stomped at the edge of the ring, causing the tile to tilt upward and trip Nasyia. Then he ran all the way around the ring really fast to give everyone the illusion that he disappeared."

"He's really something else." Kaoren smiled. "And the way he does everything gives off the opposite vibe."

_"ALRIGHTY, IT'S TIME FOR THE SEVENTH MATCH! YOSUHIRO MAKIE AND MERANA ANHIA, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

The dirty blonde man from earlier stood up and walked out onto the ring with a girl who would have been a mermaid had it not been for her two legs. She had serrated ears and gills on her neck like a fish. That battle, and the next several battles went one of two ways: either a complete blowout, or completely average and not worth watching. Yosuhiro knocked Merana out of the ring in a matter of seconds.

Yaka Neyoin and Djara Kakyymi were up next. Both were from the South Galaxy, and neither of them were very impressive. Djara won by a ten count.

Shirako didn't even bother bringing his sword into the first round, but the three boys still wanted to watch. It wasn't much to see. Shirako basically slapped Tomas Pojunto in the face and he went flying into the stands.

Raafar Struma and Aaroc Ynatta didn't provide much of a sight to see, either. They were pretty evenly matched but Raafar managed to knock Aaroc out of the ring and won.

Martin beat Tenka Alany in the eleventh match with ease.

Even Lisa, who Dominick was surprised to hear was actually a contestant, won her match with ease as well.

Dominick and Dalton were just starting to fall asleep when they heard the thirteenth match announced. _"FOR THIS MATCH, WE HAVE KASAE ITSUMI AND OLIBU! ROOKIE AGAINST VETERAN! PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_ King Kai was bragging to the other Kais about how strong Olibu was until he realized the Kasae was also from the North Galaxy. Kasae adjusted his glasses as he stood up to enter the ring.

Olibu slapped Dominick's back again as he went out the front door. "Watch this." He said with a big smile.

After he was they were both on the ring, Dalton looked at Dominick. "My money's on Kasae."

"Good call." Kaoren said. "Kasae's a beast. He probably won't try that hard."

Dominick frowned at him. "I don't know. I heard Olibu's pretty strong, too."

Martin stood up and pointed to the ring. "Hey, wait. He's got the sword with him."

They all looked and saw the sword hanging from his belt. Dominick instinctively put his hand on his sword. Kaoren saw this movement. "Hey, you've got one too? You might be a match for me in the quarter finals, after all."

Dalton shot him a look, but didn't say anything.

_"READY, FIGHT!"_

Olibu smiled and crossed his arms. "Go ahead, kiddo. I'll let you have the first move."

Kasae shook his head. "I'm not really a 'first move' kind of guy. We'll take this at your pace."

"Alright, then." Olibu lunged his massive body at Kasae. He was fast. Kasae had to jump back in order to have time to block his punch. He had to use both hands. "Nice block!" Olibu said with a smile.

Kasae pushed him away. "That was a strong punch." He said. "I guess the Kai doesn't brag about you for nothing."

"I'm flattered." Olibu rushed at him again. He attacked with consecutive punches this time, and Kasae blocked all of them. He ducked under one of Olibu's punches, but the blonde hero's other fist came up in an uppercut and nailed Kasae in the nose, bringing him off the ground. Olibu then spun around and roundhouse kicked him straight across the chest, sending him flying. His feet were already off the ground, so he had nothing to slow him down, and he flew out of the ring.

The crowd gasped. Kasae stopped himself in midair. He never touched any ground outside the ring, so the match was still in play. "I can't embarrass myself by losing in the first round." He said.

"For all the strength you have, you don't seem very enthusiastic about this, do you?" Olibu asked.

"It wasn't really my idea to enter this tournament." He replied.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to finish this quickly instead of staying of defense the whole time?"

"That's a fair point." Kasae flew back above the ring and swung at Olibu, who ducked under it. He flipped over to land on his feet and turned around. "Unfortunately for you, I've already gotten used to the strength of your attacks. They can no longer hurt me."

Olibu lunged at his opponent and they began exchanging blows at a stunning rate. It was hard for Dominick to stay interested in the fights, especially after dealing with Hotokira's speed. He could keep up with all of the movements. But he wasn't disappointed. He'd expected this much. Many of these guys couldn't even deal with Majin Buu when he came through 200 years ago. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Otherworld was turning out to be a bit of a disappointment. Because of that, he hadn't shown his full strength at all, aside from when the three of them were alone, which wasn't often. No one else had even seen him go Super Saiyan.

Olibu could hardly land punches on his opponent. His frustration was beginning to show. _Why can't I hit him? He isn't attacking, but he doesn't even look tired. Could it be that he really did get used to my attacks? That's absurd!_ His last punch was harder than the others. Kasae crossed his forearms in front of his face to block it, and ended up sliding back a couple meters from the impact. "You seem to making light of me, kiddo." He said.

"If you're implying that I'm being careless, you're wrong." Kasae replied.

"I'm not getting anywhere like this. To think I'd have to use my full power in the first round…" Olibu's muscles tighten and bulged as he gritted his teeth and his power rose. He dashed with lightning speed toward Kasae and kneed him in the gut. While he was staggering back, Olibu punched him in the face with a downward force. Kasae spat blood on the floor. He then stepped forward and returned the favor by punching Olibu hard in the lower stomach. Everyone in the audience heard the impact of that punch. The blonde hero coughed up a little blood. "You pack a really solid punch." He said, smiling.

From that point forward, it was as if the two of them had given up on defense and were trying to knock their opponent out before their opponent could knock them out. They weren't attacking very fast, but each blow had the strength of ten. Every single punch that hit above the chest sent the one on the receiving end to the floor. Kasae was showing a bit of blood, but didn't look tired at all. Olibu was bleeding as well, and about the same amount as Kasae, but he breathing was looking very strained.

"Olibu's going to lose." Martin breathed. "I thought he was the strongest one from the North Galaxy."

"He may be the strongest one who's trained with a Kai." Kaoren said. "But training with a Kai can only get you so far."

"And with that sword…" Dominick started. "I find it hard to believe that this is all he has to offer."

"You're perceptive." Kaoren told him.

"If he's so much stronger than Olibu, and no one knows it, he has to be actively trying to hide that strength." Dominick said. "Why would he do that?"

Kaoren smiled. "For the same reason you've been hiding your true strength this whole time."

Dalton, Martin, and Dominick all looked at him, stunned. He just laid back on the couch, resting his hands behind his head.

Olibu pointed at Kasae. "Look, kiddo." He said. "I don't know if you're trying to be nice, but bringing that sword into the ring only to not use it is quite insulting."

Kasae looked down. "You want me to use the sword?" He sighed and brought it out of its sheath. The sheath fell to the ground behind him. His power boosted up as soon as the blade was free. "Fine. I guess this fight needs to end sometime in the near future." With his free hand, he adjusted his glasses. "Alright, I'll tell you how I'm going to use this sword. I'm going to throw it up really high in the air, and by the time it hits the ground, I will be the victor of this match."

"You're a little punk, aren't you, kiddo?" Olibu said as he rushed him.

Kasae tossed his sword up in the air. Dominick thought it was going to get stuck in the ceiling. Olibu swung hard at his opponent, but it was blocked. Kasae turned around and nailed Olibu in the cheek with a back hook kick, which was impressive considering Olibu was probably half a meter taller than him. While the blow still connected, Olibu scowled and grabbed Kasae's leg. Immediately, Kasae bent his leg, pulling him closer to his opponent. He then turned around the opposite way in midair and elbowed him in the face. Olibu let go of his opponent's leg while grabbing his nose in pain. Kasae, kept turning and landed a hard roundhouse kick on Olibu's other cheek. _What power…_ Olibu thought to himself as his feet left the ground. _What sort of power boost did he get from drawing his sword?_ He went flying and slammed into the far wall under the audience. He slid down onto the grass that was surrounding the ring. The audience was completely still and silent until the announcer finally spoke.

_"WHAT AN UNDERDOG STORY! WITH A SHOCKING TURN OF EVENTS, KASAE, WHO WAS ON THE DEFENSIVE FOR THE ENTIRE FIRST HALF OF THE MATCH, HAS TURNED IT AROUND AND WON!" _The audience went wild, and rightfully so. That fight was like a roller coaster.

Kasae stuck his hand outward and held it open with his thumb facing downward. Within the second, his sword came plummeting down from the air blade first. He closed his hand and caught the sword by the hilt just as the tip of the sword was only inches from the ground. He turned around and walked back to the break room without saying a word.

Olibu grunted as he sat up and leaned back against the wall he had crashed into. "Damn, I lost." He said to himself. "All these young kids are coming and surpassing us veterans. I probably would have lost to that Kaoren guy, too." He laughed and gave a bitter smile. "I feel like an old man."


	4. Out of Hiding

_Chapter XLVI: Out of Hiding_

A short girl with red hair ran up to Kasae as he was entering the door. She wore a tight black kimono with a split up the side of her leg. Her hair was long enough to be tied into a little ponytail, but couldn't have fallen any lower than her shoulders if she wore it down. Kasae stopped when she got to him.

"Hey, you're hurt." She said. "Let me tend to your wounds."

"No, I'm fine." He replied. "Besides, you have to fight right now."

"It's fine, the match can wait."

He sighed. "No, no. You go fight in your match. I'll let you do whatever after you're done."

Her face lit up a little, but she did everything in her power to stop that.

_"NEXT, LET'S HAVE SAIRYO SAKUSUKO AND HOMAR INO PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Sairyo ran up to the ring, her happiness leaking out. "I'll make this quick!" She called back to Kasae. He found himself watching her little red ponytail bob up and down with every step. He shook himself out of that daze, and walked the rest of the way into the break room.

"Hey, looks like I've got myself a cutie for an opponent." Homar said when Sairyo stepped onto the ring. "I'm a lucky guy." He must have been eight feet tall and had the body of an ogre. He wore huge sunglasses and had a black bowl cut on his head. No one in the audience could take him seriously with that look.

"Tell me how lucky you are when your ass is on the grass." Sairyo retorted.

Homar scowled. "You little…"

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Sairyo flashed out of sight immediately and appeared right in front of him with her fist in his stomach. His eyes practically bulged out of his head. He fell back on his rear and a mix of bile and spit leaked from his mouth. She began to walk toward him again. "No, no, wait! I give up, I give up!"

Snickers could be heard from the audience. _"UMM...HOMAR HAS CONCEDED THE MATCH! SAIRYO MOVES ON!"_ Then, the audience began to cheer.

Dominick heard Rari yelling at her. "...showoff!" Dominick caught the tail end of it.

She looked at him and tilted her head back with a smug grin. "You're just mad because I'm stronger than you."

"I didn't say that!"

"So you aren't denying that I'm stronger than you."

Lisa had to hold Rari back from going into the ring and starting a brawl. Sairyo just walked off with her nose pointed up as if she was proud of herself.

_"WE'RE NEARLY DONE WITH ROUND ONE ALREADY! ONLY TWO MORE MATCHES! FOR THIS MATCH, WE NEED NIRMI RAHRK AND WAICHEI KARAKEN IN THE RING PLEASE!"_

Dominick, Dalton, and Martin felt a short-lived energy spike that came from in the break room. When they looked at its source, they saw Shirako, who was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Calm down, Shirako." Soriyamo told him. "You will gain nothing by causing a scene here."

"I know that." Shirako responded through clenched teeth. Then, he turned around and started for the back room. "There's no reason for me to watch that man - no, that thing - fight." With that, he disappeared into the back.

Dominick looked back at the two fighters who were on the ring. "Which...one is he talking about? I don't know which one is Waichei and which one is Nirmi."

"You'll know by the end of the match." Kaoren responded. He didn't look interested in watching, either.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

One of the men on the ring had silver shaggy hair that hung down in his face so his eyes barely peeked through. He wore a slate colored shirt and dark gray sweatpants. The other was short and had spiky hair as tall as he was. His smile took up well over half his face and bared sharp teeth.

The silver haired man took his shirt off and gave a warm smile. It was the only warm smile that would give someone nightmares. He lightly patted his chest. For how messy his hair was, the amount of muscle he actually had was a big surprise. He wasn't as ripped as Olibu by any means, but his bones were covered in fairly thick slabs of pure muscle. "Come now." He said. "I want you to attack me first."

Sairyo was having trouble getting Kasae to cooperate. "I'm fine." He said. "My wounds are already healing."

"Don't be stupid." She snapped. "I have gauss with me, so just sit still."

He pushed her away. "I said I'm fine."

Everyone in the break room heard the sound her fist made when it hit Kasae's gut. They also heard the grunt escape from his mouth. "And I said to sit still."

He leaned his head back against the wall. "Fine."

He was lost in her red hair again before he knew it. She had him in the fetal position with his elbow on his knee. She was wrapping the bandages around his forearm, and she was focusing really hard on it. She wasn't very good at it, but he didn't say anything.

She looked up at him suddenly. "What's wrong?"

He looked away just as quickly. "Nothing."

"If you say so." She started wrapping his arm again. He wasn't lying earlier. His wounds weren't that bad. They definitely didn't require bandages, but she didn't say anything.

_"UH-OH! I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED MEDICS! IT SEEMS CONTESTANT RAHRK IS BADLY HURT! HOWEVER, SINCE CONTESTANT KARAKEN DIDN'T KILL HIM, NO RULES HAVE BEEN BROKEN! WAICHEI MOVES ON!"_

The silver haired man went and grabbed his shirt to put it back on. "He'll be fine." He told the announcer as he put his hands in his pockets and walked off the ring.

"It's him." Dominick said. He got a weird feeling from Waichei, but he sensed no malice.

"Don't worry about him." Kaoren said. "He may still be weird, and it still might be in your best interest to avoid him, but Shirako's grudge against him comes from when they were alive. He's changed a lot since then, of course, or else he wouldn't have been allowed to keep his physical body in Otherworld."

"Right…" Dominick replied. He found himself trusting what Kaoren said, but he had no way of verifying it. How did the Hashai twins seem to know almost half the contestants at the tournament?"

After Nirmi was hauled off the arena, the announcer became more fired up than ever._ "NOW! THE LAST, BUT MOST AWAITED FIGHT OF THE FIRST ROUND! WHY IS IT THE MOST AWAITED FIGHT? BECAUSE WE FINALLY GET TO WATCH OVER FIVE TIME CHAMPION OF THE OTHERWORLD TOURNAMENT, PIKKON, FIGHT! THIS YEAR, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF SUPER STRONG ROOKIES! EVEN THE FAMED OLIBU WAS DEFEATED BY ONE! WILL THIS BE ANOTHER UPSET?! WILL THE ROOKIE DO THE IMPOSSIBLE?! PROBABLY NOT, BUT ONLY TIME WILL TELL!"_ The crowd absolutely went crazy. People were screaming and throwing their shirts out onto the grass around the ring. _"PIKKON! SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI! PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

"Is Pikkon really that strong?" Martin asked, not really expecting an answer.

"It doesn't matter how strong he is." Kaoren replied.

"Why not?" Martin pried.

"Why?" Kaoren laid his hands behind his head again. "That's because in all of Otherworld, there ain't no one stronger than Soriyamo."

"Except Kashito!" Nyoriyo added. It'd been a while since he spoke.

"Except Kashito." Kaoren nodded in agreement.

"Who's Kashito?" Dominick asked. _Why isn't he in the tournament?_

"The Naga." Kaoren said.

"You know-?!" Dominick started to exclaim, but Kaoren held his finger to his lips. "You know the Naga?" He whispered.

Kaoren looked up at Nyoriyo, who was a little frantic. "Well, we've already said too much, but yeah, I guess."

Dalton looked at him. "Why did you enter the tournament, then? Can't you just get training from him on your own?"

"That," Kaoren started with a devious smile, "is something I _absolutely_ can't say."

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Pikkon flew at Soriyamo. His green skin turned into a blur, and his red eyes were streaks in that blur. In an instant, they were exchanging blows. Dominick wouldn't have known the fight had just started. It was like they were on a different level than anyone else in the tournament. Soriyamo, like the others, did not touch his sword.

Suddenly, he got the urge to go outside and watch. It seemed to pull him in. He left the couch and walked out the front door. Rari noticed him and beckoned him over. He went over to them. Lisa didn't even notice that he'd arrived.

"Watch closely." Rari said. "The winner of the tournament is in this match."

Dominick looked at him. _Him, too? Does everyone hold Soriyamo to such a high standard?_ Soriyamo was being pushed into the defensive. Pikkon was strong; people said that he could beat the legendary emperor Frieza in just one strike, which meant he was much higher than Super Saiyan level.

Pikkon jumped up and did a front flip, extended his leg and bringing it down on Soriyamo's head. He blocked it with his forearms just a couple inches from his face. His face was strained, and Dominick was honestly surprised that he could show strain on his face. He had just seemed so calm before. Soriyamo looked at him out of the corner of his eye. What was he doing? Why was he taking his eyes off his opponent? He smiled as if saying, "Are you watching?"

"I think...I'm going to go back inside." Dominick said uneasily. Something felt seriously off.

"Huh?" Rari questioned. "If you say so."

Dominick began walking back to the break room. Every other step, he would look back at Soriyamo.

_"Burning Shoot!"_ Pikkon yelled from behind him. He suddenly engulfed himself in flames, not unlike what Dalton did. He flew up into the air, and back down at incredible speed. He used an aerial attack at first, which was blocked, but then his feet touched the ground and he immediately began relentlessly attack at Soriyamo's upper body and head. Many of the attacks were hitting hard. The Burning Shoot attack worked very similarly to Kaio Ken, in which it multiplied Pikkon's speed by about a factor of five. He launched a side kick, hitting Soriyamo in the stomach, sending him skidding all the way across the ring. His head hung off the edge and he looked at the upside down crowd yelling at him to get up. He leaned back, almost causing himself to fall off the edge, but then jumped to his feet. Pikkon, who was on the other side of the ring, screamed, _"Hyper Tornado!"_ He began spinning faster and faster until he created a visible vortex of a combination of wind and energy around him. "Give up, Soriyamo. You can't hurt me in this state." He said from within the vortex.

As he rushed his opponent, time seemed to slow down. Dominick heard a voice in his head. _Are you watching?_ Soriyamo was looking at him again. It seemed like Pikkon's vortex was crawling at a snail's pace across the ring. Soriyamo looked back at his opponent. Dominick couldn't take his eyes off of them. What was this man planning? He seemed so confident.

Soriyamo's smile grew bigger as his energy rose. Dominick stepped back. "This feeling...is unmistakable!" He breathed. Soriyamo's eyes turned a shade of aqua blue, and his hair turned golden. His energy exploded outward. "Soriyamo...is a saiyan?!" His eyes were fixed on the ring.

Rari fell back from shock. Lisa put her hand over her mouth. Kaoren abruptly stood up from the couch and ran to the window, as did Nyoriyo. Even Kasae looked shocked. He didn't even notice that Sairyo had stopped wrapping his arm to stare at Soriyamo.

Dalton and Martin looked at each other. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Martin asked.

"I don't...even know."

Soriyamo yelled as he stuck his hands in front of him. Suddenly, the vortex vanished and Pikkon was blown backward. He wasn't on the ground for long. "This is an unexpected development." He said. "However, if turning Super Saiyan is your trump card, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Soriyamo got in a fighting stance. "And if you're comparing my strength to Goku's when you two fought here 200 years ago, you're in for a surprise."

"How do you know about that fight?" Pikkon demanded.

"I watched it." He said. "I've been here for a long time, just keeping low."

"...Why?" Pikkon asked.

"That's…" Soriyamo began charging at his opponent. "...for me to know." He suddenly disappeared.

"What?!" Pikkon exclaimed._ I didn't even see him move. I've completely lost sight of him! _He began frantically looking around._ Where's the most likely place he'd show up? Above? Left? Right? It's got to be behind!_ Just as he looked behind him, Soriyamo reappeared right in front of him. Pikkon looked back around to face his opponent, but it was already too late. Soriyamo elbowed him in the chest. They were already near the edge of the ring, and that blow sent Pikkon the rest of the way off. The match was over.

_"PIKKON JUST...PIKKON JUST LOST?!"_ The announcer exclaimed._ "SORIYAMO WON! WHAT IS WITH THESE ROOKIES?! OVER HALF OF THE CONTESTANTS PROGRESSING TO ROUND TWO HAVE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN THE OTHERWORLD TOURNAMENT EVER BEFORE! BOTH OUR MOST FAMED VETERANS ARE OUT ALREADY! IS THIS THE START OF A NEW ERA?!"_ The announcer had said that with the intent of exaggeration, but Pikkon knew it wasn't that far off. He couldn't even compete with these guys anymore.

Soriyamo walked off the ring. Dominick was still frozen in place. He was directly in the path between the break room and the ring. Soriyamo passed him with nothing but a slight smile. Dominick didn't look back when he walked by. He only lowered his head and looked forward. He lowered his eyebrows into a knot on his forehead. _Who the hell _is _this guy?_


	5. Dalton vs Kaoren

_Chapter XLVII: Dalton vs. Kaoren_

"Kaoren…" Nyoriyo started. He stared at Soriyamo as he walked into the room. "Does that mean...we can…"

Kaoren sat back down on the couch and exhaled. "No, we should hold off for now. I think it's better to play on the safe side."

Kasae suddenly stood up when he saw Soriyamo, causing Sairyo to yelp and fall back. He walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Soriyamo?" He demanded.

"You'll see in time." He responded.

"Don't give me that shit." Kasae said. "Ever since you took over-"

Shirako put a hand on Kasae's shoulder. "I know you miss him." He said. "But causing a scene here won't do anything."

"We've been looking for over a year now." Kasae said. "No one just disappears like that. I know you've done something to him, Soriyamo." He looked around and saw that everyone in the break room was staring at him. He pushed Soriyamo back and stormed into the back room.

Dalton looked at Martin again and raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear that?"

Martin nodded. "It's someone that disappeared. And there's a chance it's your father."

"How likely?"

"More than you think." Martin said. "If you think about it, Soriyamo is very similar to you two. He's a super saiyan, and he had a sword identical to Dominick's. It wouldn't be surprising if he knew your father."

_"ALRIGHTY! WE'RE GOING TO START THE SECOND ROUND RIGHT AWAY! LET'S GET DOMINICK FISCALINI AND RYU KEIN IN THE RING!"_ Dominick was already outside, so he just hopped on the ring from where he was. Ryu followed close behind him. _"LET'S GET THIS FIGHT STARTED! READY, BEGIN!"_

"I've seen you fight already, so I know not to start out slow with you." Ryu said.

"That's fine." Dominick replied. "I'm not in the mood to play around, anyway."

Ryu started with the attack he used to finish his last match. He drew the wind from around inside of him, building up its pressure. When he was ready, he released it, and the force of the wind radiated out in a sphere. Dominick braced himself to block it, but it still made him slide several meters back. "Impressive." Ryu commended him. "I was hoping to just knock you out on the first blast."

"I can do that, too." Dominick told him.

"What?"

"I can do it, too. It might not be the same attack, but I can knock you off the ring without touching you." Dominick channeled his energy throughout his body until it started bubbling out. He kept it in, trying to build the pressure. Eventually, he felt like it was going to explode. With a yell, he let it all out at once. Nothing happened at first. The shockwave started out slow, but suddenly expanded with incredible force. Several people in the audience were blown back into the upper rows. Ryu was swept completely off of his feet and blown completely out of the ring. The announcer was pressed against the stands, unable to move while the force was still acting. When it let up, he dropped to his knees. He looked up to see Dominick standing alone in the ring.

_"DOMINICK HAS KNOCKED RYU OUT OF THE RING!"_ He exclaimed. _"HE WILL BE FIGHTING IN THE QUARTERFINALS!"_

Dominick went over to help up Ryu. "That attack of yours was still amazing." He said. "I just have a lot more energy to spare than you."

Ryu laughed. "Then I'll just have to train a lot, and build up my energy until I surpass you."

"You've got a long way to go until you do that. If you want to see me fight for real, watch the quarterfinals."

The two walked back to the break room as the crowd cheered.

_"NEXT, WE HAVE DALTON FISCALINI AND KAOREN HASHAI! PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Nyoriyo smiled and gave Kaoren a thumbs up. He smiled back at his brother.

Dominick pulled Dalton aside as he walked toward the ring. "Don't do anything crazy." He said. "When you fight me next round...we'll show them what we've got." Dalton nodded.

"This should be fun." Kaoren said to Dalton.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Dalton nodded, and the two of them flew at each other. It was as if they were taking turns, switching from attacking and defending. Dalton would attack with a flurry of kicks, and Kaoren would defend nearly all of them. Usually, one or two would slip through and make contact. Then, Kaoren came back with repetitive punches and kicks. Dalton's defense was about as effective as Kaoren's. The two were having a lot of fun.

Rari ran up to Dominick before he could return to the break room. "Yo!" Dominick turned around and waved. "Stay out here and watch this fight with me." Rari said.

Dominick accepted his request and the two rejoined Lisa on the grass. Lisa would be fighting Martin this round, and he found himself thinking that she was lucky it was him and not Dalton. "Do you think Kaoren can win, Rari?"

Rari looked down at her. "I think he _can_, but he won't."

"That's what I meant to ask." She said.

"I don't think Kaoren will even go to level one. He's never been one to take risks so I'm fairly certain he's willing to throw the match in order to play it safe in the long run."

"Oh, I see." Lisa said, disappointed.

"I'd advise you to do the same. I probably will, too."

"Hey," Dominick chimed in, "what do you mean by 'level one?'"

Rari chuckled and looked away. "It's nothing…" Dominick accepted it for now, but he already had his suspicions. "Anyway, this fight is shaping up to be a good one, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it should be close." Dominick replied. "I'm fairly confident that my brother will win, though."

Rari pointed. "But look. Kaoren has the upper hand."

Kaoren had pushed Dalton to the defensive. He wasn't getting a chance to attack. All of his focus was put to not falling out of the ring. Kaoren threw a punch at his head. He caught it. Then, Kaoren threw another punch with his other hand. Dalton caught it with his other hand.

Kaoren smirked. "Here's an idea. Use that fire I saw you use earlier. It can't just be for show, can it?"

"You asked for it, then." He said. Kaoren jumped back and Dalton drew his sword, and flames began to swirl around the blade. Then, the flames shifted down the blade toward the hilt, then up Dalton's arm and then engulfed his body. Then, he sheathed his sword. His eyes turned a bright shade of red and his pupils became slits.

"Dragon form." Dominick breathed. "I haven't seen that in a while."

Kaoren moved into a fighting stance. "I'll extinguish those flames of yours with my bare hands."

Dalton lunged at his opponent. He struck with an outward chop, spewing flames a short distance out of his fingertips. Kaoren ducked to dodge it. He pooped back up in that same moment and punched Dalton in the gut. Dalton retaliated by kicking him in the chin. Kaoren fell back a little bit, but rebounded and lunged at his opponent again. Dalton turned around and elbowed him when he was close enough. Kaoren clutched his bleeding nose with one hand, and with the other, he shot an energy blast at Dalton. Dalton jumped up in the air and the blast flew right under his feet. He stopped in midair, and the flames around him roared. He grabbed his wrist and pointed it at Kaoren, who was still on the ground. Streaks of green suddenly showed through the fire. _"Galactic Cannonball!"_ The green and purple ball shot from Dalton's hand went spiraling toward Kaoren.

Kaoren gritted his teeth and braced himself. With a yell, he put his hands out in front of him. Dalton's eyes widened. Kaoren stopped the blast. "You won't overpower me…" He stammered, "...with an attack like this!" He pushed back with all of his might, and the ball of energy went flying back to Dalton.

Dalton leaned back and just barely dodged his own attack.

"I don't think Dalton can win like this." Dominick said.

"Yeah, I honestly underestimated Kaoren." Rari responded. "To be able to redirect a blast like that...he's improved a lot."

Dalton scowled and descended to the ring. Kaoren smiled. "Let's go, that can't be all you've got, can it? We're just getting started!" He rushed at Dalton and forced him onto the defensive again.

_How? He's getting stronger as the fight continues. It's like he's adjusting to my power. But I've already released my flames, and I'm in Dragon Form. How is it...that he's still overpowering me?!_ Just then, Kaoren landed a hard punch right on Dalton's lips and nose. He was launched several meters and landed on his back. He could feel blood running from his nose and his mouth.

_"DALTON HAS BEEN KNOCKED DOWN! I'LL BEGIN THE COUNT! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!_

Dalton just laid on the tile of the arena and sighed. "Sorry, Dominick, but I need to win this match so we can fight in the next one."

_"SEVEN! EIGHT-"_ Dalton threw himself onto his feet. _"DALTON IS UP WITH ONLY TWO SECONDS TO SPARE!"_

"You're something else, Kaoren, you know that?" Dalton told him. "I wish I could have fought you for a little longer."

"I told you earlier, we're just getting started!" He ran at Dalton again with a sort of battle cry.

Dalton then yelled, and his hair turned golden. Kaoren seemed to freeze. He took the opportunity of surprise to lunge at his opponent, and landing a side kick in his gut and knocking him to the ground. He slid on the tile and then onto the grass.

_"WHAT A COMEBACK! DALTON GETS UP AND KICKS KAOREN OUT OF THE RING! HE WILL BE FIGHTING HIS BROTHER IN THE QUARTERFINALS!"_

Dalton reverted into his base form and walked back to the break room. He let out a long exhale.

"You had to go Super Saiyan." Martin said as he entered the room.

"I won, though." Dalton replied. "But I think the only reason I won was because I caught him off guard. Something was telling me he wasn't going all out, either."

Dominick told Rari that he was going to go talk to Dalton for a little bit. When he was gone, Rari and Lisa exchanged serious looks. "Dalton is a Saiyan…" Lisa started.

"Which means that Dominick is one as well." Rari finished. "And if we know anything about Saiyans, it's that they tend to stick together. You're fighting their friend Martin pretty soon. Be careful, because he might be one, too."

She nodded.

"This is exciting." He said with a shaky smile. "These guys could actually be strong."

Dominick approached Dalton and high-fived him. "That was really good."

Kaoren walked up right behind Dominick. "I didn't know you could go Super Saiyan."

Dalton looked up at him. "How do you know what a Super Saiyan is?"

Kaoren averted his eyes for a moment, then looked back. "Ah...Soriyamo can do it, so we just…"

Martin and Dominick looked at each other and raised an eyebrow. They decided not to say anything.

Kaoren walked up to Nyoriyo. "You got beat." Nyoriyo said to him.

"Just like I thought." He said. "This tournament was disappointing. I got my hopes up for a little while."

_"ALRIGHT, LET'S GET SEJA LUISTO AND RARI ATSUMO INTO THE RING, PLEASE!"_

"Great, I have to fight another pretty lady." Rari said. "Not that anyone's as pretty as my Lisa, but this is still annoying."

"You shouldn't talk like I'm some helpless princess." Seja retorted. She was a slim woman who wore knee high boots and was smoking some kind of substance. She had black dreadlocks with blue tips and had chocolate colored skin. "You aren't my type, anyway. I hate guys with long hair."

Rari chuckled. "That's alright. I like my women with a little bit of curvature, anyway."

"Gross."

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Rari immediately dashed and got behind her. She didn't have any idea what had happened. "Sorry, but I don't want to play around with you right now." He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the ground.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Put me down!" He turned around and walked toward the edge of the ring. "Hey! This isn't fair! Fight me like a man!" She was squirming and kicking at him, but he wouldn't let go of her. He just walked all the way to the edge of the ring and set her down on the grass.

_"RARI...UHH...WON AGAIN! HE HAS YET TO THROW A PUNCH THIS ENTIRE TOURNAMENT!"_

"Fight you like a man?" He asked her. "I wouldn't consider myself a man anymore if I laid my hands on a woman."

"What kind of logic is that?" She demanded. "We're just as strong as you are."

"Even still." He replied. "If I can get to your back so easily, what makes you think you would have won even if I would have fought you?" She didn't have a comeback for that one. "Regardless of whether or not I used my fists, you lost this fight." He ran back to Lisa, waving with a dumb grin on his face.

"Hey, don't do that anymore." She said.

"Do what?"

She averted her eyes. "You know, when you picked her up...you uhm…"

He moved his face in front of her so she had no choice but to look at him. "Hey, you're jealous because I hugged her, aren't you?"

Her face turned red. "Uh...no...I-umm...It just made me feel weird...and I didn't like it, so…"

Rari laughed. "Don't worry, I'll hug you too!" He squeezed her tightly. She was super flustered at first, but she calmed down and rested her chin on his shoulder. "If you don't like something, all you have to do is tell me. I'll do anything for you."

"Thank you." She said, and brought her hands slowly up and onto his back.


	6. Round Two in Full Swing

_Chapter XLVIII: Round Two in Full Swing_

_"YOSUHIRO MAKIE AND DJARA KAKYYMI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Djara was basically a lion in a humanoid body. He had long, bushy hair that fell down to his waist, like a mane. He also had fur on the outside of his forearm, and thin tail. He was massive; bigger than any of the other contestants by far.

"Aw, I'm fighting another scrawny punk?" He muttered.

Yosuhiro said nothing and took a fighting stance.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

In an instant, Yosuhiro was right next to Djara. He only measured up to his opponent's waist. He jumped up and elbowed Djara in the gut. The beast doubled over, coughing and drooling all over the ring.

"I'd prefer to get this over with." Yosuhiro said. "It's hard to enjoy fighting when I'm looking at such a revolting face the whole time."

"You prick!" Djara yelled. "I'll make you pay!" Suddenly, he began to grow in size until his ankles were taller than Yosuhiro's head. "That's right. My size is proportional to my strength, and I get stronger by getting angry! So by all means, keep making me mad!"

Before he knew it, he found himself lying on the floor outside the arena. Yosuhiro was standing in the ring with his palm out. It was smoking. "That's all the more reason to win as soon as possible."

"You bastard!" Djara screamed. "You cheated! There's no way I could be knocked out that easily!" He got up and started charging Yosuhiro, but suddenly, he disappeared.

"How pointless." Yosuhiro muttered, spitting at the place Djara was at.

Dominick swore he saw someone fly in, pick up Djara, and leave. But it was all a blur. All he saw was silver hair and some sort of purple bandage. His speed was easily on par with that of Hotokira.

_"YOSUHIRO IS THE WINNER! HE WILL FIGHT RARI IN THE QUARTERFINALS!"_ The announcer acted like it didn't even happen. Djara disappeared from their very eyes. In fact, no one in the crowd reacted, either. It was as if they'd expected it to happen. There was only one person who could be responsible. Widely known across all of Otherworld as the strongest fighter...It had to be the Naga. It had to be Kashito.

That was the first glimpse that Dominick had at Kashito's power. It was insane. Was there really someone as strong as him in the Otherworld? Then it dawned on him. _Could Kashito be...a Makara Warrior?_

_"SHIRAKO YASUFUMI AND RAAFAR STRUMA, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Shirako still didn't have his sword. His long hair covered his entire backside. His face looked so smooth, and his stride was so graceful, but there was no sense of femininity about him. He seemed more like a prince than anything.

Raafar also seemed like a prince, but in a different way. His stride did look graceful, but he was wearing a facial expression that reeked of entitlement. Apparently, he had saved many endangered species and civilizations by handing out money. It was all he'd been talking about for the entire tournament. He was a burly man despite his personality. He had black hair that was parted in the middle and hung down to his chin, and wore clothes that arguably weren't fit for fighting, but he'd made it to the second round, so they couldn't be too bad.

"How can you fight with all of that hair?" Raafar asked with a haughty smile.

"I will demonstrate." Shirako replied.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Shirako's hair whipped around behind him as he launched at his opponent. Raafar barely even had time to blink. He was already on the grass.

_"S-SO FAST! SHIRAKO KNOCKED RAAFAR OUT OF THE RING IN UNDER A SECOND! HE WILL MOVE ON TO THE QUARTERFINALS!"_

Dominick found himself a little satisfied seeing Raafar get knocked out so quickly. Shirako stepped off the ring and walked back into the break room. He smiled at Dominick as he walked by. It was a smile that made him feel warm inside. It was comforting. He was strange. Dominick didn't know whether that should have made him more suspicious or not.

_MARTIN LOZANO AND LISA TSUBASUKE, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!_

"Be careful, Lisa." Rari said as she left to hop onto the ring. "We don't know what he's capable of."

"I know." She replied, smiling. "I'll be just fine."

Martin walked up to the ring as well. Rari glared at him, and he caught him looking out of the corner of his eye. Rari noticed he was caught, and he walked up to Martin and grabbed his collar. "Listen here, pal."

"Rari!" Lisa exclaimed, embarrassed.

"I swear to you, if she's injured…" Rari grumbled low enough for only Martin to hear.

"Don't worry, I'm like you." Martin replied. "I don't like hitting women, either. I've got a wife in the living world. Now, if you don't mind letting go of me…"

Rari let him go and crossed his arms as Martin walked the rest of the way onto the stage.

Lisa bowed to him, putting one fist to her open palm in front of her. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said sweetly.

Martin smiled and did the same. "Likewise."

"Hey, don't go talking to my Lisa like that!" Rari yelled from the side.

Martin rolled his eyes. "Dude, shut up!" He retorted. "All I said was likewise! And I already told you I'm married!"

Lisa giggled. "You two are funny." She said. There was no way Martin could bring himself to hurt this girl, even if he wanted to. She was just too innocent, and her appearance wasn't helping, either. She looked about Dalton's age. Martin had to tell himself not to let his guard down. She had defeated her opponent with ease in the last round. He could be in trouble here if he wasn't careful.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Lisa ran at Martin and jumped up in the air, kicking at him several times before landing. Martin blocked all of them. She jumped back at him after she hit the ground. She had some speed, but her attacks didn't hit hard.

"As I thought," Martin said after a while, "I can't bring myself to fight you. Please, just concede the match. You're already getting tired."

"I can't give up." She said. "I know I can't beat you, but I just can't concede the match. I would be breaking my promise...to my older brother!" She yelled again and ran at him. Kasae, who was watching the fight, clenched his fist when she mentioned her brother. Dominick put the pieces together. Her brother was probably the one that was missing, the one that Kasae was obviously close to. That excluded the possibility of it being their father.

"Fine." He replied. "I will find a way to defeat you, then."

She lunged at him again. His mind was racing. How could he defeat her without hurting her? She was too strong to fall for the ways that Rari had already used. Ringout was probably impossible, forcing her down for a ten count would be humiliating, and she refused to give up. It was hard to think while she was constantly attacking him. His forearm was starting to bruise from taking so many kicks. However, there was one way to win that wasn't one of the previously mentioned. If only he could find a way to knock her unconscious without hurting her. Then, he smiled.

He waited for her to tire and jump back to recuperate. When she did, she wasted no time in attacking again. As she ran at him, he disappeared. Suddenly, her knees buckled and her eyes rolled back. He reappeared and caught her before she hit the ground. He looked at the announcer, who was visibly confused. "Hey, this one's out cold."

The mushroom man ran onto the ring to confirm. He nodded his head. _"LISA IS, IN FACT, UNCONSCIOUS, MAKING MARTIN THE WINNER OF THIS ROUND! HE WILL FACE SHIRAKO IN THE QUARTERFINALS!"_

Martin looked back to the break room. _Shirako, huh...this could be trouble._

"Hey, you bastard!" Rari yelled at him. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Relax, I just tapped a couple pressure points." He replied. "She didn't feel a thing, and she'll be awake in like a minute or two." He bent down and picked up her legs with his other arm and carried her to the edge of the ring. "Here, take her." He jumped down and handed Rari her unconscious body.

Rari couldn't stay mad when he saw her peaceful face. "Listen…" He said. "You can't stick around here for too long." Martin gave him a confused look. "You have to go back to your wife."

He smiled and nodded, then went back to break room. Dominick greeted him at the door. "How'd you knock her out like that?"

"Well, all the time Chonie and I spent working on Thirteen's body paid off. I learned a lot about the body there, including a lot of different pressure points." He explained.

Dalton looked up at Martin. "We think Lisa's brother is the one that Kasae was getting worked up over earlier." He said it low enough so no one else could hear. "She could be an important lead to finding out where they are."

_"KASAE ITSUMI AND SAIRYO SAKUSUKO, PLEASE COME TO THE RING!"_

The two were already next to each other, and they stood up at the same time. Sairyo was visibly nervous. Kasae was visibly pissed. It seemed like Kasae was always pissed. The two walked onto the ring together and went to opposite sides.

"Let's get this over with." Kasae muttered.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

"I'll let you know, I'm not as nice as Rari." He told her.

"That would only be an insult to me if you were." She responded. They lunged at each other. Sairyo was a loud fighter. She would yell with every strike. Kasae was the opposite. He just kept adjusting his glasses in between attacks.

She kicked at his face, and he brushed it aside. He sent an uppercut toward her gut in response, and she blocked it by grabbing his fist. She jumped back and sent an energy blast at him, but he just stuck his hand out in front of him and it exploded on his hand, creating a cloud of dust in front of him. Sairyo appeared through the cloud of dust and started attacking him. His hands moved wherever the attacks came. He clearly wasn't trying. This whole time, he hadn't even opened his mouth, which meant he'd been breathing through his nose the whole time.

He caught a punch that was aimed for his head. He threw her back and she stumbled, but stayed on her feet. "This is ridiculous." Kasae said. "I don't have the patience to play around here. You can have the match, I'm done."

"Wait!" She yelled at him. "You can't just give up!"

"Huh? Don't you want to win?"

"No, you have to take this seriously!" She cried. "That's all I want! If I can't fight with you at your full strength, then how am I supposed to make you rely on me?"

Kasae widened his eyes for a little bit, but then chuckled. "How foolish." Then he got back into a fighting stance. "Very well, I will fight you for real." He drew his sword and his power jumped up again. Before she could react, he lunged at her and hit her in the stomach with his hilt. The blow sent her flying out of the ring, and the match ended.

_"SAIRYO HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING! KASAE IS THE WINNER!"_

Kasae just walked straight back to the break room. Shirako was waiting for him. "Don't you think you're being a little cold to Sairyo?" He asked as politely as possible. "Whenever I'm training her, all she talks about is you. She really looks up to you."

Kasae looked at Shirako, then out at Sairyo, who was getting up, and then back straight ahead. "How should I know?" He said, then walked into the back room. Shirako sighed and followed him.

_"NOW, FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF ROUND TWO! WAICHEI KARAKEN AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Waichei was up there before Soriyamo was. He was standing in his position with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't put his shirt back on since the first round. Soriyamo smiled at him. "It's been a long time since we've fought, hasn't it, Soriyamo?"

"It has." He replied.

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

Waichei launched at Soriyamo. He threw a huge energy blast directly at his opponent. Soriyamo put his hands out to block it, but it began pushing him back toward the edge of the ring. With a grunt, he pushed it up above his head and it shot off upward and exploded on the roof. Soriyamo then drew his sword. Waichei released a rapidfire energy attack, which Soriyamo managed to dodge all of them with a series of quick steps. When he was right in front of Waichei, he raised his sword above his head and struck downward. The blade struck Waichei's left collarbone, or the slab of muscle protecting it. There was no blood. The blade made contact, but...it didn't cut. It stopped on the surface of Waichei's skin. Soriyamo clicked his tongue and jumped back. Then, he sheathed his sword and chuckled. "Just like I thought. My blade as it is now is unable to cut you." He said. "I will have to defeat you another way."

Waichei's demeanor completely changed. He suddenly had a crazed smile. "Of course your sword can't cut me." He sneered. "Using a weapon like that is pussy shit."

"You're in fighting mode, now, aren't you?" Soriyamo asked.

"As Saiyans, aren't we always in fighting mode?" His power began to rise dramatically. "FIGHTING IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR! AND WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN OUR PRIMAL WAYS: FIST TO FIST?!"

"I suppose you're right." Soriyamo replied with a smile. Then, he went Super Saiyan. "Since the cat is already out of the bag, you should go Super Saiyan as well."

Waichei's face turned serious. "You know I can't do that. I swore I would never go Super Saiyan again when we died."

"It was worth a shot." Soriyamo lunged at his opponent.

Watching them fight, Dominick became increasingly uneasy. Soriyamo had just said Waichei could also become a Super Saiyan, but he wouldn't transform. And yet, they were still evenly matched. No, Waichei had a slight upper hand. Furthermore, Waichei's power was growing as they fought, and at a startling rate. There was definitely a feeling of tension hanging throughout the break room, and it was undoubtedly because of this man.

Dominick shuddered when he heard Waichei's crazed laughter coming from the ring. "COME NOW, SORIYAMO! WE'RE ONLY GETTING STARTED! AND AS THIS FIGHT CONTINUES, I WILL ONLY GET STRONGER, 'CAUSE MY POWER IS FUCKIN' LIMITLESS!

Soriyamo had some injuries at this point. Blood was running down his left arm and from his nose. His legs and chest were bruised as well. "In that case, I should finish this fight sooner than later. I need to make it to the final round." Then, his power also began to rise. Lightning began to flicker around him, and with a yell, the golden aura around him flared and the lighting struck in all directions.

"Super Saiyan 2…" Dominick breathed.

"Just what kind of power does he _really_ have in store?" Dalton muttered.

Soriyamo drew his sword again. "I'm finishing this now!" He declared. From the tip of his sword, a black energy ball began to form. Then, he fired. Waichei smiled as the ball approached him, but when it hit, his face went tense. It dragged him all the way to the edge of the ring. With a flick of Soriyamo's blade, it exploded, sending Waichei backward and out of the ring.

_"WAICHEI IS OUT OF THE RING! SORIYAMO IS THE WINNER! HE WILL FIGHT KASAE IN THE QUARTERFINALS!"_ The crowd began cheering wildly for Soriyamo. He seemed to be their new favorite. When Waichei got up off the floor, it appeared that he had returned to his normal self. He didn't seem disappointed in the slightest. Dominick didn't know which side of him he found more disturbing.

However, there was something else that struck him, too. "Dalton, did you notice? Soriyamo's sword gives off a black energy." He told him.

"So?" Dalton inquired.

"Mine gives off a light blue energy." Dominick replied. "That means...even though our swords are identical, they have completely different powers."


	7. The Rematch

_Chapter XLIX: The Rematch_

_"ALRIGHTY, THAT'LL DO IT FOR THE SECOND ROUND! WE'LL TAKE A SHORT BREAK BEFORE THE QUARTERFINALS, BUT HERE'S AN OVERVIEW OF THE LINEUP! FOR MATCH ONE: DOMINICK FISCALINI AND DALTON FISCALINI! FOR MATCH TWO: RARI ATSUMO AND YOSUHIRO MAKIE! FOR MATCH THREE: SHIRAKO YASUFUMI AND MARTIN LOZANO! FOR MATCH FOUR: KASAE ITSUMI AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI! IF YOU NEED TO USE THE RESTROOM, GO NOW! THE FIRST MATCH WILL START IN TEN MINUTES!"_

"Shirako…" Soriyamo called. "Can I ask for your help?"

Shirako peeked his head out of the back room. "You got yourself hurt."

"Yeah, can you heal me?"

"Of course." Shirako then saw Waichei walk into the break room. When Soriyamo got close, he whispered, "I told you, we can't trust that monster."

"I know who I can trust, Shirako."

"Why have you let someone like him live among us for all of these years?"

"You forget that I have only assumed command within the last two years." Soriyamo said under his breath. "The one who let him stay among us was...him." The two discreetly looked at Kasae, who was sitting in the back room, absolutely fuming.

"Well, let me heal your injuries for now." Shirako said after a sigh.

Sairyo was wandering around the break room like she was lost. She knew Kasae was in the back room, but didn't want to go back there. She was scared to face him.

Yosuhiro went outside to talk to Rari. Kaoren had fallen asleep on the couch and Nyoriyo had begun trying to talk to Sairyo, who wanted nothing to do with him. Waichei sat alone in the opposite corner from them. His lips were only slightly parted in a smile. The other fighters had all left already. There were seven people in the break room, three in the back room, and three out on the field; a total of thirteen people. Only eight of them were left in the tournament. Kaoren, Nyoriyo, Sairyo, Waichei, and Lisa had already been defeated, but they chose to stay, as if they were waiting for something. It made sense for most of them to stay. Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Lisa were all good friends with Rari. Sairyo obviously wanted to stay until Kasae left. But why was Waichei still here? And why that smile? He was waiting for something. There was something that he was itching to see.

"So, are you guys actually going to fight?" Martin asked. "Like...all out?"

Dominick and Dalton both nodded. "Now that Soriyamo's gone Super Saiyan, I feel like we have to keep up." Dominick explained.

"He just wants to show off to Soriyamo." Dalton corrected.

"I _want_ to get Soriyamo to show us his full power." Dominick retorted.

"We don't even know if he's strong." Dalton said.

"No, he's strong, for sure. Earlier, after Yosuhiro's match, do remember when Djara disappeared?" Dominick asked them.

"Ah...I don't remember. I don't think we watched that fight." Dalton said.

"The fact that you didn't sense it either confirms it." Dominick murmured. "That man...Kashito...he removed Djara from the arena. I barely even saw him. He was moving at a speed equal to Hotokira, and he was concealing his power at the same time."

"So he's really strong." Dalton replied. "That's good. It means the training from him will probably be worthwhile. What does it have to do with Soriyamo?"

"Remember when Kaoren said Soriyamo was the strongest in all of Otherworld? And then Nyoriyo said 'except for Kashito'? That implies…"

Martin caught on to Dominick's thinking. "It implies that Soriyamo is close to that kind of strength."

Dominick nodded. "And using that logic, it's possible that Soriyamo could be even stronger than Hotokira was."

_"ALRIGHT, BREAK'S OVER! WE'RE STARTING THE QUARTERFINALS, NOW! DOMINICK AND DALTON FISCALINI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

"Ten minutes already, huh?" Dominick said as he walked out the door without any hesitation.

Dalton swallowed. He wouldn't dare to back down, but something in him was holding him back. Some sort of lingering guilt still gripped at his throat. He followed Dominick onto the ring.

_"ARE YOU READY?!"_ The announcer called. Dominick and Dalton nodded. The crowd grew louder. _"BEGIN!"_

"Well, Dalton?" Dominick said. "Shall we start out at full power?"

"Are we really doing this?"

Instead of answering, Dominick tightened his body, and with a yell, transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. Dalton still was not used to seeing the mixture of the golden hair with the red fur on his body. It was a form Dominick had discovered about four months ago during his battle with Shihebi. It was, in simple terms a combination of Super Saiyan 4 and a normal Super Saiyan. It was only possible because Super Saiyan 4 was not truly the fourth stage of Super Saiyan; it was only named that way for convenience. Super Saiyan 4 was actually just the controlled and hyper-compressed power of the Golden Oozaru, or Great Ape. Super Saiyan 5 was named the same way. Dominick was the first to achieve it, but Dalton and Martin followed close behind. Its discovery was the most challenging part of achieving that power.

Dalton also transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. Their power seemed to make the air heavy around them. Rari, Yosuhiro, and Lisa watched in awe as the golden aura enveloped nearly the whole ring. "I knew it." Rari breathed.

Nearly everyone left in the break room scrambled up to the window, to the door, or to any open space where they could see. Even Kasae was ran to the door, where Sairyo was. Shirako and Soriyamo remained in the back room, although Shirako was leaning back to see what was going on. Waichei's smile grew wilder in the corner. Soriyamo just closed his eyes and smiled. "Impressive, but as I thought," he muttered to himself, "you are still children."

Dominick smiled as he drew his sword. _Are you watching, Soriyamo?_ The blue aura leaked off the back of the blade as it glowed white.

Dalton drew his sword as well. He let the flames swallow his body. The two lunged at each other. They were at a level higher than when they fought a month ago. Even Dalton, who had lost the powers granted to him by Hotokira, had surpassed those powers by himself. Their blades clashed and locked, releasing an 'X' shaped shockwave mixed with fire and white light. The heat radiated off of one another. They jumped back, then clashed again. They were taking it slow at first, however each strike had the intention of killing its target. They were fighting at full strength, but also had the power to refrain from any mortal blows. They were fighting to kill, but had the confidence that the other would survive. That's what this fight was. A real fight. A fight to the finish, where the finish wasn't death, but still a fight to the finish.

Each time they would clash, Dominick could see the red of the flames reflecting off of Dalton's face. Similarly, Dalton could see the blue from the aura of Dominick's sword reflecting off of his face. Although they recognized this contrast, the two of them saw it in completely different ways. Dominick saw each clash as a representation of their differences, and came to terms with it. The fact that they were in this tournament fighting each other was solid proof of their bond as brothers. Each time they clashed, Dalton was reminded of his weakness. He was constantly reminding himself of his weakness. The weakness that allowed him to be taken over by Hotokira. The weakness that caused them to clash blades for the first time. The weakness that caused them to clash hearts for the first time. His mind kept dragging him back to that. No matter how hard he clawed toward his friends' and family's forgiveness, he couldn't outrun his own mind.

"I guess we can't fight at full strength." Dominick said, pulling Dalton from those depths in his mind. "Both of our signature attacks can't really be used in a setting like this. Both your_ 'Jigoku Seppen'_ and my _'Light Blanket'_ are attacks of wide destruction, and will certainly end up killing many people if we use them here. We'll just have to make do without them." Dalton's _"Jigoku Seppen"_ was a vertical aerial attack that created a giant wall of flames upon the downward swing of his sword, burning anything in its path in ash. Dominick's _"Light Blanket"_ was the attack he used to deliver the final blow to Hotokira. It built up the white light in his blade and released it in the direction of the slash, cutting anything in its path. The light was essentially two dimensional, resembling a sheet of metal, or a blanket, hence its name.

"I guess so." Dalton replied. They lunged at each other again. Dominick thrust his sword forward toward Dalton's face. It was dodged, but not without leaving a bloody slit on Dalton's cheek. He stepped forward and slashed up and diagonal, scraping against Dominick's chest. Dominick swung his sword down and sliced a deep cut into Dalton's shoulder. Dalton jumped back and pointed his sword forward as the green and purple energy began swirling at its tip. _"Galactic Cannonball!"_ He shouted. Dominick sliced right through the blast and the two halves exploded behind him. He gripped his hilt with both hands, and the blade's white shine became brighter until it was blinding. Everyone who was watching had to completely cover their eyes.

"This is what I lost to?" Kaoren muttered to himself. "What a waste...I want to fight him again."

The light shone into the back room as well. "What do you think, Soriyamo?" Shirako asked.

"Well...he's definitely the missing link. We can say that for sure, now."

"We pretty much knew when we saw his sword."

"We had no idea if it was the one that was missing, though. He could have stolen it from one of the Elemental Wielders."

"So we've seen all ten, then?"

"Not yet." Soriyamo said. "He has yet to call its name."

Rari shielded Lisa from the light. "What's that idiot doing?" He exclaimed. "Is he trying to blind everyone here?"

Lisa swallowed slowly. "That's definitely it." She said quietly.

The doorway cracked under Kasae's grip. Then, the light died down. Sairyo looked up at Kasae. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He gritted his teeth and closed his fist, the concrete of the doorway crumbling between his fingers.

Dominick was gone by the time Dalton could see again. "How…" Dalton started as he looked around. "How do you think you could fool me with this?!" He shot flames above him and Dominick reappeared, just barely avoiding the flames.

Staying in the air, Dominick shot an energy blast out of his sword, which Dalton stopped using all of his force, then redirected it back at his opponent. Dominick flew down, extinguished the blast he had fired, and punched Dalton in the face. His brother gritted his teeth and refrained from falling back. He retaliated by punching Dominick in the stomach. The battle became that of pride, and the loser was the one who first took a step back. They were in too tight of a range to use their swords, so they were either using their non-dominant hands or the hilt of their swords to do the attacking. However, the auras were still there. Now, that light-blue goo aura had completely extended to Dominick's whole body. They stood in the very center of the ring, a purple lining between the two of them where their auras collided. Both auras flared with each attack, rising to the height of the break room itself.

Their attacks were getting weaker as they became more fatigued. Nobody in the break room said a word. They were too captivated by the red and blue light shining and swaying in the ring. Dalton landed a solid hit on Dominick's face. His feet didn't move, but the rest of his body fell back. Dominick lay on his back while Dalton stepped toward him. The younger brother stuck his hand out, and an energy blast started to form in his palm. It was small; only enough energy to send him skidding out of the ring. Both of them were already beaten up enough and didn't need to take anymore damage. And from Dalton's perspective, he had already won. But that was a perspective the two of them did not share. Dalton felt the guilt creeping into his mind again, causing him to hesitate. Dominick saw the opportunity, put his index and middle finger to his forehead and disappeared. _Instant Transmission._

Dalton looked above him where Dominick had teleported. "You hesitated there, Dalton." Dominick called down to him. "You're still letting your regret from the past hold you back. You're letting that weakness take control of your mind. You try to hide it from us, but you can't. Do you know why?"

Dalton took several steps back so he wasn't right under Dominick. "Why is that?"

Dominick pounded his chest. "Because we're friends! I couldn't care less if we have the same blood running through us or not; you, me, and Martin...we're family! And we're not going to let you separate yourself from this family because of your regrets! You have to take your weakness...and beat it into the ground!"

There it was. That feeling of admiration that he had forgotten over the past events. _That's right._ He thought to himself. _Not only Dominick, but Gogito...and even Piccolo. All these years...my reason to get stronger wasn't to surpass them...it wasn't to beat them down…_ A long forgotten flame lit in Dalton's soul. _I wanted to fight alongside them. I wanted…_ "I WANTED TO FIGHT BACK-TO-BACK, LIKE BROTHERS! ALL THREE OF US!" The flames around him started morphing into a shape resembling a serpent. No. Those weren't the flames. Those were his very soul, manifesting around him.

"There we go." Dominick murmured with a smile. "Finally, you were honest with yourself."

Dalton let out a battle cry as he launched up at his brother. Dominick dove down at Dalton, his left arm extended his chest and his blade extended down parallel to his back. The two approached each other and when they met, a wave of Dalton's fire aura engulfed Dominick's body and a wave of Dominick's light-blue aura engulfed Dalton, creating a beautiful two-petaled purple flower above the ring.

From the center of the flower, two bodies fell down to the tile floor of the ring. One could have heard a pin drop into the grass if they were listening. Even the announcer was too stunned to call out that both fighters were down, and neither of them seemed likely to get up anytime soon. But that call wouldn't be necessary.

Dominick groaned as he moved his arms out of the crater he had created from falling. His arms wouldn't stop shaking as he tried to push himself up. He first sat up, then took a breather. Then, he took a deep breath, and with veins practically popping out of his head, he used all the strength left in his legs to stand upright. The dust around them settled. He looked down. How he still had his sword in hand, he had no idea. Then, he looked at Dalton. He was unconscious. It looked like he was fast asleep.

He suddenly felt extremely woozy, and started falling forward. He jabbed his sword in the tile and let some of his weight fall on that. He rested his head on the back of the hilt. Then, he looked over at the announcer, who was still frozen in shock. "Hey, announcer…" He managed. "It's been ten seconds since I got up...so hurry and say that I won. I can't stand for much longer…"

The mushroom man shook himself out of his daze suddenly. _"DALTON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING! DOMINICK IS THE WINNER OF THIS INCREDIBLE MATCH!"_

The crowd went wild. Dominick put his head back on his sword and chuckled. "He had me scared there...for a little...bit…" The tiles started spinning, and then everything faded to black.


	8. The Healer

_Chapter L: The Healer_

Martin picked both Dominick and Dalton up and tossed one over each shoulder, then carried them back to the break room. "You idiots forgot that you still have more matches after this." He muttered. Then, he smiled. "You looked like you were having fun, though, so I guess that's what matters."

Once he was in the break room, he saw Soriyamo walk out of the back room and lean against a wall. Then Shirako peeked out and his eyes landed on Martin. He beckoned him to carry Dominick and Dalton over there. It was Martin's first time in the back room. It was more empty than he'd expected. It was just a smooth concrete floor, with two benches lined up against the wall, a chair that was a couple feet out from the benches, and a refrigerator against the wall opposite the entrance. "Those boys really exhausted themselves out there, didn't they?" Shirako said with a warm smile. He sat down in the chair.

"Yeah, I guess so." Martin said. Shirako's sword wasn't on his belt. In fact, he had seen a sword on his belt since they were drawing lots before the tournament started.

"Wondering where my sword is?" Shirako asked. Martin noticed himself looking at Shirako's belt and abruptly looked back up. "I noticed you watching me while I was wearing it, and now you were staring at its absence." That warm smile still remained. "Set those boys down on the bench, I'll heal their wounds." He said.

"You can do that?" Martin asked, but then stepped back. "How do I know if I can trust you?"

"Oh, come now." Shirako responded. "Do I really look like an untrustworthy person? I just want Dominick to be in top condition for his next few fights." Martin knew he wasn't lying, somehow. He lied Dominick and Dalton down on the bench, and Shirako walked up to them. Shirako put his palms out so each one was hovering over one of the bodies. Then, a pale blue glow emanated from his palms and covered both of them.

Martin saw their wounds slowly begin to heal. "Woah, you really can heal people…" He said, not realizing his mouth was hanging open.

_"RARI ATSUMO AND YOSUHIRO MAKIE, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_ The announcer suddenly called. The two of them, who were already outside, left Lisa by herself and hopped onto the ring. They said no words to each other. They were already fired up. _"READY, BEGIN!"_

"We're up next, you know." Martin said. "Doesn't this expend some of your energy?"

"A negligible amount." Shirako replied. Then, the two of them sat in awkward silence while Dominick and Dalton were being healed. It was taking a long time. They could hear the sound of punches and kicks, as well as a couple short yells coming from outside. Martin looked outside to see how it was going, but it looked really underwhelming compared to the show that the two being healed put on. Kaoren had said something earlier about Rari being stronger than him, and Dalton had said that he was sure Kaoren was holding back. Something wasn't adding up. And this fight...didn't seem like a real fight. Martin snapped back into reality at the sound of Shirako's soothing voice. "I remember when I enjoyed fighting as much as these two do."

"You sound like an old man." Martin told him.

Shirako chuckled. "In some ways, I am an old man."

"What? You can't be much older than me."

"Well, it's true that I died when I was around 25, but I have lived here for much, much longer."

"Well, you can't say you've 'lived' here. Existed, maybe."

"Is there really that much of a difference? I mean, we exist here, we can still fight, talk, and have fun. Is that not living?"

"I guess that's true." Dominick said. He had just woken up. Most of his wounds were already closed, and so were Dalton's. He sat up on the bench and look up and down his arm. The wounds were gone. "Shirako, you can heal people?"

"Yes." He replied.

"Cool…" He said in awe as Dalton's cuts were closing up right before his eyes. "Is Rari fighting right now? Kaoren told me this fight would be good. Thanks for the healing, Shirako, but my wounds are all healed, so I'm going to watch the fight now."

"Sit down." Shirako said with a smile. "You have not fully recovered your energy."

"But-" Dominick protested.

"It's fine, the fight's not as spectacular as they made it out to be. I don't think they were expecting you to be as strong as you were." Martin told him.

"True, it did surprise us all." Shirako added. "However, I think you will be more surprised at the absolute necessity of having your energy completely replenished."

"You know how strong Soriyamo is, don't you?" Dominick asked him. "How strong is he really?"

"I can't say." Shirako responded.

"He's stronger than Rari, right?"

"Yes."

Dominick leaned in real close to Shirako's face. "Then...who would win? You or Soriyamo?"

Shirako was taken aback by the question a little bit. "Umm, Soriyamo, I guess."

_"WOW, JUST LIKE THAT, YOSUHIRO HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING! RARI WILL MOVE ON TO FACE DOMINICK IN THE SEMIFINALS!"_

"Well, your energy is almost completely restored." Shirako said as he got up from his seat. "It should only take the time from now until your match with Rari to recover the rest."

"Wish me luck." Martin called as the two of them walked back into the break room toward the front door.

Dominick watched Shirako's blonde hair float behind him like a cape as he walked up to the ring. _Why is he so set on healing me?_ He thought to himself.

_"IT LOOKS LIKE OUR NEXT CONTESTANTS ARE ANXIOUS TO GET THE MATCH STARTED! NOW, MARTIN LOZANO AND SHIRAKO YASUFUMI, ARE YOU READY?!"_ Martin got into a fighting stance and nodded. Shirako chose not to assume a stance, but still nodded. _"AND...BEGIN!"_

Martin dashed around to the back of Shirako right away. He went for an elbow attack aimed at his opponent's neck. Shirako turned around and caught it. "You are quick," he said, "but if you want to beat me, you'll have to use more power than just this."

"I thought so." Martin said. With a yell, his power bubbled up and his hair became golden. "I have no choice but to defeat you this way." He lunged at Shirako again, this time with a flurry of punches and kicks. Shirako couldn't fend all of them off. Martin landed a solid one right in his gut, and he fell backwards onto his rear.

Martin extended the courtesy of letting his opponent get back to his feet. Shirako chuckled as he got up, dusting himself off. "You certainly are many times stronger in that form. It's no wonder I couldn't fend off your attacks like this." He sighed.

"I know you're holding back, so let's see what you've really got."

Shirako pondered the idea. "I guess that would be for the best, wouldn't it?" He finally responded. "Then, you should probably brace yourself." His smile faded. "I apologize."

_What?_ Martin was on the floor. No, he was on the grass. Out of the ring? _Wait, what happened? He completely disappeared from my vision. But, I definitely felt a kick. Yeah, now that I think about it, my side really hurts. But when did he kick me? And that amount of force he kicked me with...there's no way it could be possible. His power level didn't even rise. How could he have kicked me that hard? That was easily strong enough...to damage a Super Saiyan 5._

_"M-MARTIN HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING! A-ACTUALLY, IT LOOKED LIKE HE JUST THREW HIMSELF OUT OF THE RING! REGARDLESS, SHIRAKO WILL MOVE ON TO THE SEMIFINALS!"_

"Are you okay?" Shirako was standing next to him, holding his hand out in an offer to help him up. "Sorry, I kicked you really hard."

"How...how did you do that?" Martin asked. "You completely disappeared. I didn't even feel your energy approaching me. With your power concealed like that, how did you manage to hit me so hard?"

Shirako smiled. "I've had a lot of time to train here. I've found that if you raise your power level in the exact instant your blow makes contact, and only for that instant, the change is completely undetectable, yet the force of the blow remains at its peak."

Martin was in awe. "You really are incredibly powerful, aren't you?"

Shirako laughed. "I'm not that strong." He said. "There's no need to flatter me."

Martin got onto his feet and bowed his head down. "Would you...please take me as your student?"

Shirako was taken aback yet again. "Eh? Uh...why me?"

"Please." He asked.

Shirako gave a defeated sigh. "You aren't going to let up, are you? Well, raise your head first. To be honest, I have a student of my own already. I'm training her in the healing arts." He said. "However, she is also a very capable fighter. If you can defeat her in a match, I will train you."

Martin's eyes lit up. "Thank you!" This was someone he looked up to. He had always struggled more than Dominick and Dalton at controlling his energy. Shirako seemed to do so effortlessly. If only he could be stronger, he could protect Rika.

"You look pretty happy for someone who just got decimated out there." Dominick said to him when he got back. "Was he really that strong?"

Martin nodded. "Even if I had been a Super Saiyan 5, that kick still would have knocked me out. Shirako is really strong, and really wise, too. He's been around for a really long time."

"He seems like a nice guy, too." Dominick said as he peered over Martin's shoulder. Shirako was talking to Soriyamo, who was getting ready for his fight with Kasae.

"Who?" Dalton said while walking out of the back room.

"Hey, you're awake." Dominick said. "It's about time."

"Shirako, the man that healed your wounds." Martin told him.

"You mean the blond guy with the sword?" Dalton asked. "You trusted him with my unconscious body?"

"Don't worry about it." Martin replied. "When we were fighting, I sensed nothing but remorse when he knocked me out. He doesn't like hurting people."

_"KASAE ITSUMI AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

They were already on their way up there. Soriyamo had a sort of laid back smile. Kasae was oddly calm. His face looked more annoyed than angry.

_"READY?! BEGIN!"_

"Let's get this over with." Kasae said.

"Kasae…" Soriyamo started cautiously. "Don't you think...we should fight at our full strength?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded.

"What reason do we have to hide it?" Soriyamo asked. "You saw those two fighting earlier, right? People with incredible power are showing up! There's no need to isolate ourselves anymore. Haven't you had enough of hiding?"

"What reason do we have to hide it?" Kasae repeated. "So we're just going to pretend like all those years...painstakingly training under Liomara...you're going to pretend like all those years didn't even exist?!"

"You need to stop holding on to the past, Kasae." Soriyamo said. "Understand that Liomara were still here, would have done the same."

"Understand? Me, _understand?!_" Kasae began to raise his voice more. "I understand clearly! You wanted Liomara's top seat, didn't you? You killed him for it! You were the one that didn't understand him."

"Don't accuse me of that." Soriyamo replied. "We don't even know if he's dead."

"I'm sure you know full well whether or not he's dead."

Soriyamo raised his voice, and it startled everyone. "Why can't you see this? I'm doing this so we can find him!"

Kasae's power began to rise as a yellow-golden mist rose from his sword. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE DECISIONS LIKE THIS ON YOUR OWN?! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT HE'S GONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Soriyamo became serious. "Put that sword away." He said. "This isn't the time nor the place for that killing intent flooding from your blade."

Kasae didn't even realize that he'd drawn his sword. He sheathed it right away, then looked at Soriyamo with hateful eyes. "Fuck this." He turned around and began walking away. "I can't kill you in this setting, nor do I desire to do it in front of an audience. But I swear to you, Soriyamo. I will take your life." He jumped off the ring and onto the grass.

_"WH-WHAT? HOW ANTICLIMACTIC! KASAE HAS JUST FORFEITED THE MATCH AND WALKED OFF! I GUESS THAT MEANS SORIYAMO WILL GO ON TO FIGHT SHIRAKO IN THE SEMIFINALS!"_

"You idiot." Soriyamo murmured as Kasae walked out of the stadium and Sairyo frantically ran after him. "I'm already dead."

_"THAT CONCLUDES THE QUARTERFINALS, FOLKS! WE'LL TAKE ANOTHER SHORT BREAK, AND THEN WE'LL START THE SEMIFINALS!"_

Two of the thirteen people remaining in the break room had just left, so that left eleven people. Four of them were participating. Rari and Yosuhiro had gone to the back room with Shirako once Soriyamo's match began. Lisa was left alone outside, so Dominick decided he would go talk to her. She was the only one in the tournament besides Dalton that looked younger than he did. Actually, he was surprised that there was more than just Dalton. Being only nineteen, he expected all of the fighters to look older than him.

"How old were you when you died?" He blurted out as an opening line without even thinking.

"What?" She asked politely.

"Oh, sorry, that came out on accident." He said, desperately trying to save the mistake he'd made. "You don't have to answer."

"No, it's okay." She smiled. "I was eighteen. But I look younger than that, don't I?" She giggled nervously.

Dominick sat down next to her. "No, not really. I would have guessed you were seventeen, but that's not far off at all."

"You're pretty strange, aren't you?" She asked him.

He blinked. "Did I say something strange?"

"Uhh, nevermind. You just remind me of Rari is all."

"Oh, yeah, you too are pretty close, aren't you?" Dominick asked.

"You could say that."

"He seems to really cherish you, you know."

"I know, and I'm very grateful." She said. "But…"

"Do you love him?" Dominick blurted out again.

"Eh? Uh…" Her face grew red as she gathered her thoughts.

"What do your feelings tell you? What's the very first answer that came to your mind?" Dominick paused, then looked away abruptly. "Ah-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay, I just...I don't know." She whispered. "I_ like _him, but we've just been friends for so long, and I...uh...umm…"

"That's alright, you don't have to answer." Dominick told her.

The two of them made small talk while waiting for the semifinals to start. "Does my hair look strange?" She asked after a while. "You've been kind of...staring at it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even realize…" Dominick responded, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that you have the exact same hair color as my fiance, back in the living world."

"Fiance? Does that mean you're planning on going back to the living world?"

Dominick nodded. "I have to. I proposed to her right before dying. Isn't that stupid?"

"I don't think it's stupid." She said while giving him a sad smile.

"I really miss her." Dominick said. "It's only been a month, but I just want to see her again."

"I know what you mean." She responded. "I haven't seen my brother in over a year now, and I don't even know what happened to him."

_Wait. Her brother hasn't been around for a year now? This confirms it. Her brother...is one of the people that went missing!_


	9. Dominick vs Rari

_Chapter LI: Dominick vs. Rari_

_"ALRIGHT, BREAK'S OVER! IT'S TIME TO START THE SEMIFINALS!"_

Dominick was nervous already. He didn't know why. "It's my turn already." He told Lisa as he stood up.

"Good luck." She said.

"I'll need it, won't I?" Dominick responded. She didn't answer.

Rari put his hand on his opposite shoulder as he rotated his arm. "Thanks a lot, Shirako."

"You're both fully recovered." Shirako told him.

Rari looked down at Yosuhiro, who was still being healed. "But-"

"I mean you and Dominick." He smiled. "It should be a good fight, shouldn't it?"

Rari swallowed and walked out toward the ring. "Wait, Rari." That voice belonged to Soriyamo. He turned around to see a face of determination. "Win. Do whatever it takes."

"Wait Soriyamo, you can't mean-" Rari started, but was cut short with a simple nod. He smiled. "You got it."

Dominick saw Rari walk out of the break room and joined him on the ring. "Took you long enough." Dominick said.

"You better not have been flirting with my Lisa." He responded.

"I wasn't."

"ARE YOU GUYS READY?!" The announcer called. "BEGIN!"

Rari ran at Dominick right away and jumped, doing a spin in midair, and attacking with a back hook kick from the momentum of the spin. Dominick stopped the attack using his forearms. The kick hit hard, and he felt his body wanting to give way to the force. He threw a punch at Rari's head. Rari lurched forward, forcing Dominick's fist downward and jumping up at the same time. He flipped over Dominick's head, but just before he landed, his feet were swept out from under him. He planted his right hand on the ground and paused for a second. Using only the strength of his forearm and biceps, he launched himself feet first at his opponent. Dominick jumped out of the way, but as he flew by, he grabbed Dominick's forearm and yanked him off the ground. Then he planted his feet on the ground and swung Dominick over his head, trying to slam his body on the ground. Dominick, using energy in a way similar to the way fighters allow themselves to fly, propelled his feet downward when he was at the peak of his swing. His legs bent forward at the hips and fell inward, hitting Rari in the chest. He let go of his forearm, stepping back. He didn't hesitate for long. Rari lunged back in at full speed. Dominick noticed that he'd left his stomach wide open for an attack, and he wasn't going to let that opportunity slip. He went for it, but as soon as he made contact with Rari's gut, he felt a fist drive up into his jaw. Both of them were thrown onto their backs.

"Ahh, man…" Rari grumbled as he got up. "I thought I would do better than this in my base form."

"Base form?" Dominick asked him.

"Oh, you know, the form we're in now." He replied.

Dominick chuckled. "The way you say that, it makes it sound like…"

"Man, I wanted to gauge your power, but Soriyamo seemed to think it would take my full power to beat you...I guess I should have just gone Super Saiyan 5 at the beginning."

"What did you say-" Dominick's eyes grew wide. Rari had sprouted a tail through his pants.

"Hey, it's been a while since I've had to grow my tail back!" He said with an excited smile. "Here goes nothing." With just the flexing of his muscles, his hair turned golden and grew longer. Red fur showed from the bottom of his sleeves. He felt around the back of his hair as if checking to see if his hair tie was still intact. "Yeah, still got it." He then saw Dominick staring at him in shock. "What?" He said, crossing his arms. "Did you think you were special because you could do this? This is nothing special. All my friends over there can do it, too. Even Kaoren and Nyoriyo."

"You've...been keeping something like this a secret the whole time?" Dominick stammered. "And not only that...you grew your tail back on the spot...and your gi is still intact."

"Not just my gi. My hair tie's still there, too." He said. "Judging by the look on your face, you thought that once you controlled the power of the golden oozaru, you'd taken complete control of your energy, didn't you?"

"It's...not like that?"

"Not by a long shot." Rari explained. "The power released by Super Saiyan 4 and above is so powerful, the energy itself incinerates any clothing above the waist. Unless, of course, you learn to perfectly control the energy as you let it out. It's a completely different art than suppressing your power or anything like that."

"I didn't know...this was possible." Dominick managed.

"Once you achieve this, your stamina is multiplied several times over." He said. "Right now, I'd guess that this feels like what a normal Super Saiyan would feel like for you."

"I kind of want to try." Dominick said with a smile. His shirt was already gone from his last fight, but he wanted to see if he could make that form easier to maintain. He began breathing slowly through his nose and released his power as controlled as possible. He became a Super Saiyan 5, but it just felt like it always had.

"You aren't going to get on your first try." Rari told him. "How long has it been since you discovered this form? A couple years?"

"Five months, I think." Dominick said. "How long have you been able to do it?"

Rari laughed. "How long do you think I've been in Otherworld?"

Dominick shrugged. "You said it's been a long time, so like 600 years? 800? Maybe a thousand?"

"Try seven of those."

"7,000?!"

"It's probably more like 6,800, but I've lost track. Either way, I think I was a Super Saiyan 5 for over 100 years before I could keep my hair tie on."

Dominick smiled. "Man...to think there are people this strong...this is so exciting! I want to fight you already!"

"That what we're here to do, isn't it?"

He got into a fighting stance. "You don't have a sword, do you?" Dominick asked him.

"Nah." He responded.

"Then I won't use one either." He walked to the edge of the ring and set it on the grass below. "I've been training a lot with my sword to be able to use it properly, but in a tournament like this, I'd rather have a fair fight."

"Fair?" Rari asked. "Fair is already out of the question. I've had the upper hand since before the match began. The deciding factor of this match will be time, and I've had way more time than you've had."

"We'll just have to see about that!" Dominick shouted at him, and then he lunged at his opponent. Rari was caught by surprise and took a fist to the face. He staggered back, but only one step. He turned his face back forward and blood was dripping from his lip. He had a huge smile on his face. He stepped forward and punched Dominick in the nose, then drove his knee into his gut. Dominick doubled over, blood flowing from his nose and splattering all over the ring. Suddenly he jumped up in the air and fired an energy blast down at his opponent. Rari fired one in opposition, and they hit each other and exploded in the air, creating a cloud of smoke that shielded them both from the other's vision. Rari then appeared on Dominick's side of the smoke, dragging some of it with him. In midair, they began attacking each other at a speed beyond visible to any eye in the audience. From the average viewer's perspective, it would seem that both of them had disappeared, but that could not be, because the sounds of the punches and kicks could still be heard. Occasionally, the audience would see little puffs of dust rise from the tile of the ring as the fighters' feet touched the ground, or, if they were lucky, they could see the fighters reappear in midair for just a moment as they paused for a stronger attack. Dominick and Rari were fighting equally, despite Rari's advantage in age. And both were getting battered. Dominick got above Rari and elbowed him in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. As he was falling, he flipped his body upright and managed to land on his feet. He instantly bounced off the ground and flew back at his opponent. He tried to hit Dominick in the face with a closed-fist backhand, but his fist was caught inches before its target. With his opposite leg, he tried to knee Dominick in the side. That was caught as well. The audience could now see them. Rari let out a yell and slammed his forehead against Dominick's. Dominick fell back to the floor with a grunt. He didn't even cushion his fall.

_"DOMINICK IS DOWN WITH AN IMPRESSIVE HEADBUTT BY RARI!"_ The announcer yelled. _"ONE! TWO! THREE!"_

Rari descended to the floor. "Your lack of stamina is catching up to you!" He said. "Don't feel bad, though. There ain't no one that's got a harder head than me."

Kaoren joined Dalton and Martin by the doorway. "Surprised?" He asked them with a smile.

"Not particularly." Dalton said. "I figured you guys were all hiding this up your sleeve ever since Soriyamo did it."

"Saiyans tend to stick together, right?" Martin added. "We figured if you all knew each other, then more than one of you would be a saiyan."

"Impressive." Kaoren replied. "For as little time as you guys have been alive, you sure are smart."

"You and Nyoriyo can do it as well, can't you?" Dalton asked him. "And I'm assuming to Super Saiyan 5 as well."

"Yeah."

"To be honest, I'm more surprised at how equally they were fighting." Dalton crossed his arms. "You guys have probably had much more time that we have to perfect this form."

"Most of us achieved it when we were still alive." Kaoren said. "And that was almost 7,000 years ago."

"That long, huh…" Martin tried to wrap his mind around the amount of time.

"They may be evenly matched, but Rari could keep this up for another two hours, and I can feel Dominick's energy waning already." Kaoren explained. "This fight is as good as over."

_"EIGHT! NINE! T- WAIT, DOMINICK HAD STOOD BACK UP IN THE NICK OF TIME!"_

Shirako and Yosuhiro left the back room. Yosuhiro went to join Nyoriyo, who was still dejected over Sairyo leaving him while he was trying to talk to her. Shirako joined Soriyamo a couple feet to the left of Kaoren. "It looks like Rari was the perfect matchup for Dominick." Shirako said. "What do you think?" Soriyamo just shrugged his shoulders as he stared at the ring. "If Dominick loses here, you two won't be able to fight in the final round, and coming to the tournament will have been a waste."

"If he can't win here, than the wasted effort will not be in coming to the tournament, but in showing interest in him in the first place." Soriyamo replied.

"Why are you so interested in him, anyway?" Shirako asked politely.

"He reminds me of _that_ man."

"That man?"

"That man that Liomara befriended fourteen years ago."

Shirako's eyes widened a little bit. "Soriyamo, you don't think…"

"To be honest, I don't think there's any doubt to be had. This isn't really a popular last name we're talking about, here."

"He never told us he had kids…"

"Well, the only one he was really close with...was Liomara."

Dominick got into a fighting stance. "Ready to go again, Rari?"

"I'd love to keep fighting you, but look at yourself. You're wobbling." He replied. "You're running out of strength."

"I fight the best…" Dominick's energy started to manifest in a golden glow around him. "...when my energy's running low!"

They rushed at each other. Rari uppercutted Dominick's jaw before he could get an attack off. He flew up in the air, but managed to stop himself and lunged back at Rari. The two began exchanging attacks again. Dominick's moves were more desperate than before, but he was still keeping up. In fact, Rari felt his lungs starting to burn. He was beginning to tire. _What it this? I should be able to hold this form for much longer without hardly breaking a sweat. And this kid...his energy is all over the place. He's using it so inefficiently, and yet...his attacks aren't weakening at all. In fact, they're getting stronger. How is it that he can keep on fighting like this?_ Suddenly, while he was deep in his thoughts, he felt a fist hit his nose, causing him to slide backward on the ring.

Dominick kept his fighting stance steady, although he was a little hunched over and breathing very heavily. "Come on, Rari!" He shouted. "Let's put everything into this last attack, and see who's the strongest between the two of us!"

"Sounds good to me!" Rari yelled back. He concentrated all of his remaining energy into boosting his physical power, and Dominick did the same. The two of them flew up into the air and launched at each other. They both kicked each other in the face at the same time and were thrown back.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dominick jerked his head forward. "That wasn't enough to knock me out!" He exclaimed. There was no response from Rari. Dominick rushed to his opponent, who was still in the midst of falling, to end the match for sure. He clasped both hands above his head to swing downward, but just as he was about to attack, Rari lurched forward and punched Dominick in the jaw hard. Dominick's head was thrown back as blood spewed from his mouth.

"But that was." Rari said with a smirk. He was completely drained. That kick had so much force behind it, it took all of his willpower not to lose consciousness on the spot. _That was too close for comfort. I almost…_

Dominick's hands clasped around Rari's shoulders. "I'm not...going to lose!" He yelled as his grip tightened and he slammed his head into Rari's head as hard as he possibly could. His eyes rolled back in his head and his passed out.

_No way...he was conscious even after that?_ Rari's head fell back and the two of them plummeted to the ground. However, the ground was not the ring this time. When they kicked each other earlier, Rari had flown back past where the ring ended, and the two were falling toward the grass. The mushroom man ran over to where they were going to hit the ground. From the audience's perspective, all that could be seen was a huge cloud of dust billow up when they hit the ground. When it cleared, everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear the announcer's call. Who won the match?

Even Dalton and Martin were grasping the doorway in anticipation.

Shirako smiled at Soriyamo, and Soriyamo smiled back. "Looks like it wasn't a waste after all." He said.

_"BOTH CONTESTANTS ARE UNCONSCIOUS, BUT SINCE RARI HIT THE GROUND FIRST BY A SLIM MARGIN, DOMINICK WINS THE MATCH BY DEFAULT! HE WILL MOVE ONTO THE FINAL MATCH!"_


	10. Shirako vs Soriyamo

_Chapter LII: Shirako vs. Soriyamo_

Shirako approached Martin and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shall we go retrieve our friends?" He asked as he walked out the front door.

"Oh- yeah." Martin said, following after him.

Both Dominick and Rari were bruised all over their bodies. Martin hoisted Dominick onto his back and Shirako did the same for Rari. They carried them back into the back room. As they walked through the break room, everyone stared in awe except for Soriyamo, Dalton, and Waichei. Kaoren sat back down on the couch. "I didn't expect this tournament to be this crazy." He said.

"I'll watch over them." Martin said as they set them down on the benches in the back room. He sat down in Shirako's chair and exhaled. "You have a match, don't you?"

Shirako smiled. "I guess I should head up there, shouldn't I?" As he turned around, Martin noticed the sword hanging from his belt.

_"SHIRAKO YASUFUMI AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_

Lisa showed up in the back room at the exact moment of that announcement. "Hey, Martin." She said timidly. "Is it okay if I hang out in here with Rari?"

Martin smiled and got up from the chair, motioning for her to sit down. "I'm sure he would like that."

Soriyamo was waiting for his opponent in the ring. "I'm sorry you got dragged here with the rest of us." He said. "I know you don't like to fight anymore."

"Don't worry about me." Shirako said. "You're finally showing interest in something after so long, and that is fun for me to see."

"You need to be more selfish, Shirako."

"What do you mean? I'm plenty selfish already."

_"READY, BEGIN!"_

The two of them drew their swords immediately. They ran each other and began lashing blades at high speed.

Dalton suddenly turned around and strode to the back room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kaoren called, but got no answer. "Huh...strange kid…" He muttered, turning back around.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Martin asked him as he walked into the room.

"Waking Dominick up." He said. A white light shone engulfed his body, then seemed to harden on his skin and shattered. His body was left relatively the same, but his hair was slightly longer and spiked up, and his eyes were silver.

Martin stood up. "It's been a long time since you've brought that one out. Mystic Form, that is."

"I've had no need for it." Dalton replied. "It's not even as strong as Super Saiyan 4, my control over energy has been exponentially increased. I figured I'd transfer some energy into him and at least give him the strength to watch this fight."

"I guess he has to fight whoever wins, doesn't he?"

Both Shirako and Soriyamo froze when Dalton transformed. "This sensation…" Soriyamo breathed.

"There's no doubt about it." Shirako replied. "Those two really are that man's children."

Dalton poured energy into Dominick's being, and his eyes began to flutter.

"It's really working." Martin said.

Dominick sat up abruptly, then winced in pain. "My head hurts so much…" Then he looked up at Dalton and Martin. "Wait, who won the match?!" He exclaimed.

"You did." Martin told him.

He put his forehead in his palm. "I got lucky, then?"

"Who knows?" Dalton said curtly. He was back in his base form already. "You need to watch this fight, or else you'll lose for sure next round."

"Eh? Okay…" Dominick complained as he was basically dragged out of the back room.

Shirako pointed at the break room. "Look, they're both watching, now."

Soriyamo looked over and smiled. "Dominick's awake already. That probably what Dalton used the Mystic Form for." He then held out his sword toward Shirako. "Well then, shall we show off a little?"

Shirako gulped and gave a nervous smile. "We might as well."

Soriyamo nodded, then closed his eyes. The black mist around his sword suddenly wrapped in and covered the entirety of the blade. He held his two arms parallel to each other out in front of him. A shadow of the sword seemed to move into his other hand, then materialized in it. "Let's go!" He shouted. As if responding to his words, the black swords in his hands began to grow and morph. "There are souls for you to collect, Kaishu Seigyo!" The black smoke swirled around his entire body.

The wind generated swirled into the break room. "What the hell is this..?" Dominick exclaimed.

Dalton looked down at his sword, then looked back up at Soriyamo. He looked once again at his sword and scowled.

The black mist dissipated. Soriyamo's one blade had turned into two very large scythes. Each had a black diamond at the base of its meter long hilt. They had a small star shaped guard just below a small "T" shaped rod. Each end of the rod stuck into a blade. The front blade was just as long or longer than the hilt, and the back blade was about the length of a short sword and hooked back inward toward the hilt.

"It's been too long since I've seen that." Shirako said with a smile.

"It's been too long since I've had to use it."

"I guess I should do it too." Shirako's sword did not let off any aura, but his power was growing nonetheless. "Hide, but do not fear. Strike them from behind, and allow no second chance! Yabokami Seigyo!" His sword liquified into pure energy and traveled up both of his arms. His energy was clearly heightened, but his sword was gone and it seemed as if nothing was there to take its place.

Dominick stared in awe at the two of them. "Can my sword do that too?"

Suddenly, he heard that voice in his head again. _You must be able to hear my name before you can achieve that power._

_But how can I hear your name?_

_You still don't completely trust me. Whether it be the fact that you don't really know what I am, or that I also existed in Hotokira, you still haven't opened yourself completely to me._

Dominick gripped his sword even tighter.

Soriyamo twirled his scythes. "Let's begin!" He shouted at he ran at Shirako. He was holding his weapons about a third of the way up from their base. They only looked like blurs when he swung them. Shirako was blocking them with his bare hands. At least, that's what it looked like to an average viewer. In reality, Soriyamo's blades was stopping inches away from Shirako's hands. They weren't actually making contact, but sparks were still flying. Soriyamo swung both of his scythes horizontally to the left, about a half second apart from each other. Shirako ducked under the blades and swung his right hand up. There was no he was in range to hit him. Soriyamo's scythes were too long. Nevertheless, he jumped back to avoid it. As the dust created from his feet sliding on the tiles billowed up, three claw marks ripped open in Soriyamo's shirt.

"Damn, you went and cut up my favorite shirt." Soriyamo muttered. "I was sure I was out of your range, too."

"You were almost out." Shirako said. "After all, my claws just barely nicked your skin."

"That's what has always been so scary about your Yabokami Seigyo, though. I can never tell when it's going to hit."

"Yabokami Seigyo is a stealth-based zanpakuto, after all." Shirako smiled. "See, we know each other already. So I already know that although your blades are big, Kaishu Seigyo's main focus is on spiritual attacks."

"Is that supposed to mean that we can't still fight?"

"Of course not."

Soriyamo brought his weapons together and a black energy ball began to form between the two of them. Shirako jumped back with his eyebrows in a knot. _"Jitaikesu!"_ Soriyamo shouted as he pulled his blades apart and the ball expanded with them into an elliptical shape. However, Soriyamo twirls his scythes and the black energy dissipated. "Just kidding." He said. He lunged toward Shirako and hit him in the chest with his hilt. "No way am I going to use an attack like that in a setting like this."

Shirako laughed a little as he recuperated. "You had me scared there for a second."

"What do you say?" Soriyamo suggested. "Why don't we take this up another notch?"

"I'm fine with whatever." Shirako replied.

Without warning, Soriyamo transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. Shirako followed suit.

Dominick had to lean on Dalton to stay upright. He'd received some energy, but only enough to stay conscious. "Oh, man...these guys are even stronger than Rari...and it's not a close comparison, either. I might be fucked for the final round."

"I heard...the word 'zanpakuto'." Dalton said.

"That must be...the type of sword." Dominick replied. "Mine probably is a zanpakuto as well."

"I wonder if my sword is a zanpakuto…" Dalton muttered.

Soriyamo and Shirako lunged at each other. They were fast. For once, both Dominick and Dalton had to focus to be able to see them. Their speed was equal to that of Kashito when he'd removed Djara from the arena. Soriyamo really knew how to optimize the movements of his scythes as well. They never seemed to get in each other's way, and considering how big they were, it was surprising how fast they were moving. They simply were black blurs flying through the air. Dominick couldn't even see the hilts. Shirako arguably had the upper hand on speed, as well. He wasn't doing much attacking, or at least from what Dominick could see. The scariest thing wasn't their speed. It wasn't their power, either, which was at least on par with Rari's full strength. What was scary was that they weren't even trying at all. Dominick couldn't tell if they were sweating, nor could he make out the expressions on their faces, but their movements were too elegant to be those of someone who was actually fighting. Those movements told him that this was nothing but play for them.

"Damn...what have I been doing all this time...for there to be this many people that are so much stronger than me…" Dominick said under his breath.

Soriyamo ran at Shirako, who had his guard up to block any attack that came his way. Soriyamo was going to go swing left with his right scythe, but suddenly, he pulled back his arm and kicked Shirako in the chest. The kick sent him flying, and he skidded off the tile and onto the grass.

_"SUDDENLY, SHIRAKO IS ON THE GRASS OUT OF THE RING! SORIYAMO IS THE WINNER!"_

"What an anticlimactic end." Dalton said, a little disappointed.

_"SORIYAMO WILL FACE DOMINICK IN THE FINAL MATCH! WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A LONGER BREAK THIS TIME SINCE OUR FIGHTERS HAVEN'T HAD AS MUCH TIME BETWEEN MATCHES!"_

Soriyamo jumped off the ring and helped Shirako to his feet. Neither of them were breathing hard at all. "You suddenly lowered your defenses, so I switched from Kaishu Seigyo to my foot."

"Thank you for that." Shirako responded.

"Why did you let me knock you out?" Soriyamo asked him.

"I didn't want you to get carried away before the match you really came here for." Shirako answered. "And besides, I still need to heal Dominick and Rari." The two of them walked back to the break room together. Their swords has returned to normal and they reverted back to their base form. Dalton and Dominick moved out of the way as they entered and walked straight to the back room. Everyone else in the break room continued entertaining themselves like normal. "Come join us." Shirako called out to Dominick and Dalton. They followed them into the back room.

When they entered, Rari was already awake, but he was still lying down. "Hey, Dominick, you beat me, huh…" He said.

"I wouldn't really say that." Dominick replied. "I was just lucky you hit the ground before I did. We were both unconscious."

"No, you definitely won that." Rari told him. "The fact that it was _your_ attack that knocked both of us out was the reason I hit the ground first."

"Stop talking, Rari." Lisa told him. "You'll just take longer to recover."

"Speaking of recovering, Shirako, can you start healing Dominick right away?" Soriyamo asked. Then, he looked up at Dominick. "I won't go up onto the ring until you're at your top condition again. I don't care how long we have to wait. If neither of us go up there, they can't disqualify either of us."

"Why…" Dominick started.

He smiled. "I've had my eyes on you for this whole tournament. In fact, I've known about you since you arrived in Otherworld. You have a lot of power, and a lot of potential to rise and gain more. I refuse to settle for anything less than your best."


	11. The Final Round

_Chapter LIII: The Final Round_

"I'll heal Rari first." Shirako said. "Since we're not on a time limit, it's better to do it now than after."

"Fine." Soriyamo responded.

Lisa sat next to Rari on the bench. He exhaled slowly. "Sorry, Lisa. I couldn't impress you out there."

"Don't be silly." Lisa told him. "You always impress me."

Dominick watched them smiling at each other. "What exactly is your relationship?" He thought aloud.

Rari looked at him seriously. "Listen here. Lisa is the woman that I'm going to-"

"We're good friends." Lisa interrupted.

_I think I just struck a bad nerve there…_ Dominick thought as the life drained from a dejected Rari's face.

"So you're all Saiyans?" Dominick turned and asked Shirako.

He nodded. "I suppose there's no point in keeping it a secret anymore. All ten of us are Saiyans."

"Ten?"

"Yes." Shirako answered. "The four of us in here, excluding you three, of course, Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Yosuhiro in the break room, and Kasae and Sairyo, who have already left."

"Lisa too?" Dominick asked with wide eyes.

She nodded. "Yes, although I'm not as strong as everyone else."

"That's not true!" Rari exclaimed. "You're super strong! Your strength lies in your spiritual powers!" She gave an embarrassed smile.

"Soriyamo." Dominick said. "Will you tell me? Why are our swords the same?"

"I will fill you in on everything once the tournament ends." He replied.

"Huh? Why can't you just tell me now?" Dominick complained.

"Don't get so worked up." Soriyamo told him "At least I'm not saying you have to beat me to get the information."

"He's right, Dominick." Shirako said. "You shouldn't get too worked up or else it will take me longer to heal you."

Suddenly, Kasae busted into the back room, sweating. He looked pale, but his eyes looked so angry that the paleness was virtually negligible. "You." He said, pointing at Dalton. "Come with me right now."

Soriyamo and Shirako both sighed as if they knew what this was about. "Why should I?" Dalton demanded.

"You don't get a say in the matter. Now let's go." He replied.

"And if I say no?"

"I'll drag you out by force."

Dalton sighed and got up. Martin looked at him out of concern. "You're actually going?"

"Yeah." Dalton said. "He seems to have a problem with me, so I figure it's better to settle it outside than in here." He followed Kasae back out into the break room and proceeded to leave the stadium.

"What was that about?" Dominick asked.

"That, too, you will know after the tournament is over." Soriyamo responded.

"Don't worry, your brother will be fine." Shirako added. "Even if Kasae does try something, I will be able to stop him myself."

Martin and Dominick both nodded, and the room became quiet. Eventually, Shirako finished healing Rari, so he and Lisa went back outside. Then, he started on Dominick. Soriyamo laid down on the other bench. Martin sat on the floor next to Shirako's chair. Dominick dozed off while he was being healed. It had already been ten minutes since Dalton left. Nyoriyo kept peeking into the back room to see if Dominick would be ready to fight anytime soon. Kaoren yelled at him each time he did, saying that it would only slow down the process. Shirako didn't mind. He didn't seem to mind much. The only thing that seemed to bother him was Waichei. Waichei hadn't moved an inch since he'd sat down in the corner after his match with Soriyamo.

After another ten minutes of complete silence, they heard the announcer call._ "IT'S TIME FOR THE FINAL ROUND! DOMINICK FISCALINI AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_ The crowd went wild, expecting them to walk out of the break room at any second, but no one came out. "Hey, is this thing working?" The announcer said to one of the tournament staff. The entire audience heard the question. The staff member nodded. _"I'LL REPEAT MYSELF! DOMINICK FISCALINI AND SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI, PLEASE ENTER THE RING!"_ Even still, no one exited the break room.

Dominick woke up to the announcement. "Hey, are they calling us?" He asked.

"Don't worry about them." Soriyamo replied. "They will wait as long as it takes."

"We're almost done, it should only be a couple more minutes." Shirako said.

"I do almost feel normal already, now that you mention it." Dominick stated.

The announcer came running into the break room and asked where the contestants were. After a couple seconds, he barged into the back room. "Guys, what the hell are you doing?" He demanded. "I've called you twice already."

"Just wait." Soriyamo told him. "We aren't ready yet."

"I'm still healing Dominick." Shirako explained. "It should only be a minute or two more."

"What?" The announcer complained. "He looks fine, though. And besides, the audience is waiting. Just have him fight like he is."

Shirako turned and smiled at the mushroom man. "I said, 'just a minute or two'."

The announcer felt his spine wanting to crawl out of his throat. Shirako's voice was smooth, but that was definitely a wild animal speaking just then. He laughed nervously. "Uh, take your time."

That minute seemed to last forever, but at the same time, it was over in the blink of an eye. Dominick and Soriyamo walked out onto the ring. Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Yosuhiro all ceased their conversations as they walked through the break room. They all knew that this was what the whole tournament had been leading up to. This was the whole reason they had all come. Once they were outside,Waichei stood up in his corner and followed them outside. Once he passed through the door, he turned right and leaned back on the wall just beside it. Martin and Shirako walked out the door shortly after, saw Rari and Lisa, and went to go join them. Soon enough, Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Yosuhiro joined the four of them. Everyone was anxious for the final match. Dominick's nerves were catching up to him. He was barely able to beat Rari. How in the world was he going to beat Soriyamo?

_"ARE YOU READY?!"_ The announcer called. Soriyamo nodded. Dominick swallowed and did the same. _"THEN, BEGIN!"_

Dominick knew he had to start first. He transformed into a Super Saiyan 5 right off the bat. He lunged at his opponent. He blinked once and suddenly Soriyamo was no longer in front of him. He skidded to a stop, then turned around. Soriyamo was also a Super Saiyan 5. _But when did he transform?_

"It was smart of you to transform right away." Soriyamo told him.

"I never...even felt you transform." Dominick stammered.

"Well, I do have much more control over my energy than Rari does. See? My hair tie is still intact, too." He turned around to show him. "I'll just start by saying that I'm stronger than you are. There's no way you're going to win this fight."

"What did you say?" Dominick knew deep down it was the truth, but he still didn't like to hear it.

"I didn't come here to beat you down. I came here to test you. Release your zanpakuto." Soriyamo told him. Dominick looked at him and knotted his eyebrows. He gripped his sword and slowly separated the guard from the sheath. "Don't tell me you don't know how." Soriyamo sighed. "So, when you were fighting Dalton...that was your full power?"

"Yeah, and what of it?"

"Oh, not much." Soriyamo replied. "I just thought...you would be a little bit...stronger."

"Are you going to keep talking shit, or are we going to fight?"

"We'll fight. But first...come on out and collect some souls, Kaishu Seigyo." Soriyamo's sword split into the two huge scythes again. "This is my zanpakuto. It's name is Kaishu Seigyo. Your's has a name as well, and since it looks exactly the same as ours, its name probably ends with 'Seigyo' as well."

Dominick drew his sword and tried to think. "That man...won't tell me his name. Is that..?"

"So you have met your zanpakuto already, but do not know his name." Soriyamo said. "In that case, it should not be very hard to learn it."

"So that man...is my zanpakuto?"

"The manifestation of the power locked in that sword of yours." Soriyamo then twirled his scythes around a little bit, then looked Dominick dead in the eyes. "If you didn't even know that your zanpakuto could be released, then you certainly wouldn't know about the second release, either."

"What?" Dominick asked. "A second release?"

Soriyamo began building up energy. It was a certain type of energy that Dominick could hardly feel, and was separate from the energy he was familiar with. He'd gotten a slight hint of it in the last fight, but it was much more prominent now. Soriyamo clashed the two jewels on the base of his scythes together. "Bankai!" He shouted.

Shirako sighed and shook his head. "Already?"

Soriyamo's body was covered in the same black mist as earlier, but it was much more violent this time. Dominick was speechless before the sight in front of him. When the mist dissipated, Soriyamo was now in a black hooded cloak and his eyes were a sickly shade of green, despite him being a Super Saiyan 5. His blades had just about doubled in size, but now they were connected as one giant two-ended scythe. The blades were in such a position that his weapon roughly resembled the letter "S". He flipped his hood back and twirled his weapon in a figure eight formation until he stopped his arm directly out in front of him. "Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo." He held his weapon vertically and rested in on the ground. It was much taller than he was. It seemed so...inefficient.

"How do you even use that thing?" Dominick asked.

"Its power lies in its unpredictability." Soriyamo replied. "I have full and absolute control over how my Bankai moves, but that's the only reason I'm able to use it at all." Suddenly, it was gone from his hands. Dominick jumped back. The double-bladed scythe was spinning toward him, and before he realized it, he had drawn his own sword in defense. Soriyamo's weapon was already upon him, though. One blade's tip struck the side of Dominick's sword and snapped it in half. The scythe returned to its owner without making contact with Dominick.

Dominick stared wide-eyed at his broken sword. _Shit...shit!_

"Your zanpakuto breaks so easily." Soriyamo said. "And being broken by another zanpakuto, its very soul has been slashed. It will not recover so easily this time."

"You bastard." Dominick growled. "I'll make you pay for that."

"Probably...the only way to recover your blade is by calling its name."

"I will..!" Dominick shouted. "And not only that, I'll master the second release as well, and I'll defeat you!"

"The way you speak right now tells me you've already conceded this match."

"You're wrong! No matter how much stronger you are than me, I won't ever know the shame of conceding a match like this. I'll make you use as much power as I can."

"You may not have verbally conceded, but your mind already has." Soriyamo said. "Your mind works too realistically. You may not give up, but if an opponent is much stronger than you, your mind tells you that you've already lost, and that makes you inherently weaker. You need to train your mind. You must always think that you can win, no matter the circumstances, but that also must never turn into arrogance." Soriyamo was right. Even before the match, Dominick's mind had been telling him that there was no way he could win. It was even the same against Hotokira. If he hadn't heard his father's voice or received help from his zanpakuto, he would have lost that fight without a doubt. Against Shihebi, his mind was telling him the same thing, and he let Gogito die because of it. "However...you were wrong about one more thing. Just achieving Bankai is not enough to defeat me."

"What are you talking about?" Dominick demanded.

"Tell me...you have never accessed your Reserve Bank, have you?"

"Reserve...what?" He asked, confused.

"To cross over the line between life and death, and return...it costs something more than even your life energy. Life energy will only take you up to that line. In a situation where your will or desperation is stronger than that of the laws of nature, and only then, you will use up all of the energy you have readily available, then you will dip into the Reserve Bank."

Dominick backed up a little bit. He wasn't sure if he believed what he was hearing. "You're telling me...there's an entire well of power inside of me...that I've never even touched?"

"It is one only held by Saiyans, as far as we know."

"That's ridiculous." Dominick said. "I've been out of energy plenty of times."

"Maybe, but have you ever thought 'I absolutely can't die here'?" Soriyamo inquired. "Those times, you have either had some small amount of energy left, or just died."

"Then how am I supposed to…"

"It is an extremely difficult task." Soriyamo told him. "Even after you unlock it for the first time, it is still very difficult to tap into the Reserve Bank. The only ones who can do it consistently are Shirako and myself." Dominick looked back at Shirako, who showed no sign of this whole thing being a bluff. "Aside from the other two, only one other person has ever managed to unlock the Reserve Bank, and that is Kasae, however, he can't access it at will."

"If it's just from the reserves...is it strong?" Dominick asked.

"The thing about reserve bank energy is that it is five times as potent as regular energy. That means, just using a little bit of that power, we can experience up to ten times our normal strength."

"Ten times..?!" Dominick stammered.

"We also take on a peculiar form when using this power." Soriyamo's power began to rise and his muscles began to tense and bulge. He gritted his teeth and let out a yell as a super dense red aura exploded around him and extended all the way to the ceiling.

Dominick shielded himself from the intense wind. "What...What in the hell is this?!"


	12. Inverted

_Chapter LIV: Inverted_

Kasae shoved Dalton against a wall somewhere several hundred meters away from the tournament arena. Sairyo was there with him. He'd left her when he returned to go grab Dalton, and she caught up to them on their way back. Dalton glared at Kasae. "So, what do you want?"

"Who was it that taught you to use Mystic Form?" Kasae demanded.

"How do you know about Mystic Form?" Dalton asked. "And regardless, I have no obligation to tell you."

Kasae slammed his hand on the wall next to Dalton's face. "I said that I was asking the questions here."

Dalton rolled his eyes. "I taught myself." He said.

"Of course you did." Kasae responded. "I meant who _told_ you how to do it?"

"That would be the Guardian of Earth, Dende."

"Who told him?"

"How should I know?"

Kasae sighed. "Let me ask you this, then. What relationship do you have to Jason?"

Dalton's eyes flashed red and he pushed Kasae off of him and onto the floor, holding his collar. "I'd like to ask you the same thing, prick. Why do you want to know my relationship to him?"

"He's the man who invented Mystic Form." Kasae told him. "I'll take it that you knew him?"

"Knew him? Jason's my dad."

"Well? Tell me what you know about him." Kasae demanded. "He's practically my only lead to finding my old master." There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

Dalton got off of him. "I was going to ask if you knew anything about him."

"He disappeared a little over a year ago, along with my old master and the first Naga."

"I know, and that's the only reason I'm not already back in the living world already. I have to find him." Dalton said.

"I apologize for how I treated you just now. Even I have to admit, I have been extremely irritable since Liomara disappeared."

"Well, Dominick, Martin, and I will find him. We'll find all of them. That's what we're here to do."

Kasae smiled. Was that the first time he'd smiled since before the tournament began? "Oh, by the way, that Mystic Form you were in earlier...was incomplete."

"Incomplete?"

"Yeah. It only gave off a fraction of the power the a completed Mystic Form should."

Suddenly, they felt a huge jolt in Soriyamo's power level coming from the arena. Dalton's eyes widened. Kasae just sighed. "That idiot's really pulling out _that_ form in the middle of the tournament...whatever. I couldn't be bothered with what Soriyamo does. Let's go." Sairyo gave Dalton a nod before she turned around to follow him. She looked sad, but something in her expression seemed to thank him. Dalton then ran back to the arena.

* * *

Soriyamo's red aura died down to about three meters tall. Soon, Dominick was able to see the being in that aura; the one that held this incredible power. Soriyamo. Who was Soriyamo?

"What you see here is my full power." Soriyamo said. It was truly magnificent. His eyes were still that sickly shade of green, but his hair had turned a deep red color. It wasn't a fiery red, but one that had just the slightest tint of pink in it. It was the exact same color as the fur on a Super Saiyan 4. He still had fur on his body, and in the same places as in Super Saiyan 4, but it had turned a shiny golden color. His tail was also gold. "Because of how it looks, we aptly named it 'Super Saiyan Inverse'. But to make things easier, we usually call it Super Saiyan 6."

_Super Saiyan 6._ Just the thought of it sounded insane. But it was undeniable. It was right in front of him. It was the highest power level that he'd ever been able to fathom. Even Hotokira was absolutely nothing compared to this.

"So, will you fight me?" Soriyamo asked him.

Dominick laughed nervously. "What a stupid question. My pride would force me to fight you, even if I didn't want to." He leapt at Soriyamo with the bottom half of his sword raised above his head. He brought it down vertically, and it shattered on Soriyamo's cloak. His eyes widened, but he allowed himself no time to be surprised. He jumped back. Soriyamo did another figure eight with his Bankai, and then jabbed Dominick in the stomach with the end of the handle that stuck out a couple centimeters from the blade itself. Dominick slid on the tile, but managed to stop himself.

"How do you expect to fight me with just the hilt of your zanpakuto?" Soriyamo asked. Dominick looked down, and sure enough, the blade was entirely gone. What was left of it had completely shattered on Soriyamo's body. But how? "To be a true wielder of a zanpakuto, you must be able to use something called Reiatsu, or the power of your soul. Right now, all of your Reiastu is still dormant."

Dominick lunged at him. "I can still fight you!" He lunged at his opponent and drove the back of his hilt into Soriyamo's gut. He didn't even budge.

"Right now, you are still a child." Soriyamo told him. "No, less than that. You're nothing but an infant who hasn't even learned to walk."

Dominick scowled. "What the hell did you just say?"

"You can't even move my body when you attack." He responded. "Someone who can't do that is not worth my time. I would help you out, but I have no interest in babysitting."

"You bastard!" Dominick shot toward him and sent his fist flying toward his face. It was blocked by the center of the handle of the double-ended scythe.

"How foolish." Soriyamo said with a smile. "You've completely lost your cool. And the only reason for that is because you know what I say is true."

"It's because you're an arrogant prick!"

"That's nonsense. If I was weaker than you and I were to say those same words, you wouldn't care in the slightest. Do you know why? Because you could beat me. The real reason that you're angry right now is because you know you can't beat me."

"SHUT UP!"

"Listen to me." Soriyamo said. "I want to train you. But I also need to know you're capable of the basics. As of now, you've shown me that you aren't. Until you can prove to me that you can walk on your own, I won't fight you." He pushed his weapon forward, causing Dominick to stagger backward. "Now, get out of here." He kicked Dominick in the chest, causing him to fly full speed into the wall under the stadium seats. He slid down and landed on the grass.

_"DOMINICK HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING! THE CHAMPION OF THE OTHERWORLD TOURNAMENT IS SORIYAMO KAGEYOSHI!"_

The crowd was a little disappointed, but at least they got to see a fantastic light show with all the powerups that Soriyamo unleashed.

Martin ran over to Dominick to help him up.

Soriyamo jumped off the stage and walked toward Shirako and the others. "Don't you think you were a little too harsh on him?" Shirako inquired.

"For now, I want him to be mad at me." Soriyamo replied. "It's all the more reason for him to prove me wrong."

"I guess."

Dalton suddenly burst into the stadium. He looked around, then relaxed his body and walked over to Martin. "I missed the match."

"You didn't miss much." Dominick told him. "I wasn't even a match for him." He was able to stand by himself. In fact, he wasn't very tired at all. It wasn't really a fight. It had ended in one strike.

Soriyamo walked up to the three of them. "Come back to our place." He told them. "I believe we have some explaining to do."

They couldn't help but agree. So much had happened, and they had no idea how to process it all. Soriyamo and the others seemed like they were the only ones that could possibly explain it. It was like they lived in a world separated from the rest of Otherworld. To add to that, they would most definitely be able to help find those three people who went missing.

"If it's your place, I'm pretty sure I know where it is." Dalton said. "Kasae took me there."

"Hm, alright." Soriyamo said. "We'll go on ahead, if you have other business to take care of." He turned around and walked back to his friends. "That works out better, actually." He whispered to himself. He had a word with Shirako, then the whole lot of them began heading out.

_"WAIT, SORIYAMO! YOU'VE FORGOTTEN YOUR REWARD FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP! YOU AND THE 2ND NAGA NEED TO WORK OUT A TIME FOR YOUR TRAINING SESSION!"_

The mushroom man ran up to him, and Soriyamo looked down with an amused grin. "Don't worry, we've already talked. I plan to use my reward to the fullest." With that, the eight of them all left the arena.

Olibu and Pikkon approached the Dominick, Dalton, and Martin. "Who knew that Soriyamo was such a strong bastard?" Olibu said.

"It wasn't just Soriyamo." Dominick corrected him while gazing at the exit hall. "It was all of them. They were all incredibly strong."

"Well, you're no pushovers, either." Pikkon told them.

"I know, right?" Olibu replied. "I think I might need you guys to train me, as embarrassing as that is to admit."

"No…" Dominick muttered. "Soriyamo was right. We're weak. We're nothing but children compared to them. Even the ones we were able to beat. Which is why...I have no choice but to become stronger. I'll prove him wrong. Next time we fight, I'll be the winner."

"I like your spirit." Olibu said. "I know you'll be able to do it."

Pikkon nodded in agreement. "Well, we should get going back to our Kais. We'll see you kids around." With that, the two of them left.

Dominick, Dalton, and Martin were alone again. The crowd was cheering for them, though, which made them feel a little warm inside. But half the stands were empty now. The tournament was over. It was time to leave it in the past. Potential clues about the whereabouts Dominick and Dalton's father were at hand. That was their main focus.

Looking back, the tournament didn't mean that much to them going in. It was all for fun. A lot of things were all for fun, until they weren't. Real life often seemed to get in the way of fun, and when it did, it was never pretty.

"Are you sure you know the way, Dalton?" Martin asked as they left the stadium behind them.

"Of course I know the way." He replied. "My memory's not so bad that I can't remember where I was ten minutes ago."

The three of them laughed. Once the laughter died down, there was an awkward silence. They were alone in this world. They'd alienated themselves from everyone else in their great display of power. And the ones who stood on equal ground were still a little suspicious. They still didn't know anything about them. Could they trust them? Or were they to be feared? They truly knew nothing of what really was happening in this new world they were about to step into.

Dominick kept thinking of the living world, and of Ichimei. As much as he was ashamed to admit it, he wanted to go back. Arguably more than he wanted to fight; arguably more than he wanted to find his father; he just wanted to see Ichimei again.

Suddenly, there was a loud and heavy crash several meters in front of them, creating a huge cloud of dust that rose and billowed up from the ground. There was a power level coming from within that cloud of dust.

"I've been ordered not to let you three pass this point." An unfamiliar voice said.

"Who are you?!" Dalton demanded.

The shadow of a man began to form as the dust thinned. "Isn't it obvious? I'm the _real_ final boss of the tournament!"


	13. The 2nd Naga and the Saiyans

_Chapter LV: The 2nd Naga and the Saiyans_

"Final Boss?" Dalton asked. "Really?"

"What do you mean, 'really'?" The man demanded.

"That's something only a nerd would ever say seriously." He responded.

"HEY!" He shouted. "I play video games sometimes, so what?!"

Martin covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing. "Sorry, dude. It's real hard to take you seriously looking like_ that._"

The dust cleared, revealing the man in full color. He had bright orange hair that he'd obviously tried and failed to spike straight up. He had a purple piece of cloth tied around his forehead, blocking half of his extremely bushy eyebrows. He wore a green martial arts gi with the sleeves sloppily torn off, a white belt that was tied in a knot at the front with its ends hanging down to his knees, and baby blue sweatpants. "What the hell is wrong with how I look?!"

Dominick raised one eyebrow and lowered the other. "You look absolutely ridiculous."

The man's face suddenly went serious. "Why don't you shut your punk ass up and let me beat the shit out of you?"

"I'm more than happy to let you try." Dominick retorted.

The man started building up a lot of power. It was a lot more than any of them would have expected. Then, suddenly his power exploded as his hair turned golden and his body became covered in red fur.

"You too?" Dominick said. "I guess Super Saiyan 5 really isn't a big deal around here."

The man smirked. "You all should come at me at once if you want a chance to beat me. It'll be equal that way. Three on three."

"Three on three?" Martin inquired.

The man didn't answer. He just lunged at the person standing in the middle, which happened to be Dalton. He drew his sword to counter, but the man was already upon him. He punched Dalton in the face, sending him flying backwards and skidding on the ground for several meters. The punch was a lot stronger than it should have been. There was only one fist, that attack had the same force as three punches in a single instant.

"Hey, kid, you're really weak, aren't you?"

Dominick and Martin looked at Dalton on the ground, and then scowled back at the mysterious man. "That's it." Dominick said as he also transformed into a Super Saiyan 5, and so did Martin. They both shot toward the man, and he smiled as he caught both of their fists and threw them to the ground. His smile faded when he looked up to see Dalton missing from his trench he'd created in the ground. Suddenly, he felt an intense behind him. Dalton swung his sword downward, just missing the man's shoulder, but searing his tank top. He was also a Super Saiyan 5. Then, he felt a foot dig into his back. He winced in pain, but still hardly budged an inch. "What?!" Dominick exclaimed.

The man turned around. "You wondering why that didn't hurt me?" He crossed his arms. "Because I'm stronger than you are. I saw your fight with Rari, and how evenly matched you two were. But the thing is when you compare my strength to his, I'm three times stronger."

Dominick knotted his eyebrows. _He knows Rari...and someone sent him here presumably to kill us...can we really not trust them?_

"That doesn't mean anything. With the three of us, we can beat you." Martin said.

"That's exactly why I said you should all fight me at the same time!" He punched Dominick in the face at the exact time that last word left his mouth. Dominick flew back. That punch was weird. Sure, it was strong, but it just felt abnormal. Dalton rushed at him again, then Martin moved to the opposite side and attacked him from there. The man turned so that each of them was facing one of his sides. Dalton sent a kick at his gut, but he jumped above his foot. Martin punched at his face, but he caught the fist. Dalton swung his sword horizontally at the back of the man's neck, and he dodged by simply leaning his head forward. However, that motion was a mistake. It gave Martin the liberty to use his other arm to send an uppercut that made solid contact with the man's nose. He groaned as blood dripped onto the floor. Martin went in for another punch, but before he could attack, he got an elbow to the face, sending him straight to the floor. Then, the man leapt straight in the air. Dalton twirled his sword, some light flames following behind the back of the blade. He jumped and followed the man into the air. The man looked down to see Dalton following him and shot a rapid fire energy attack down at him. Dalton could tell each blast had a lot of power behind it, but they weren't hard to dodge. He narrowly dodged an energy blast coming from the ground. It was shot by Martin. Suddenly, Dalton was right on top of him. "Shit!" He cursed. Dalton swung his sword down and flames spewed out the tip, scorching a mark onto his body and burning his tank top to ash. "You little…" He rushed up and punched Dalton in the stomach hard. It was hard enough to make him throw up a little blood. Dalton fell from the sky to the ground, where Martin caught him. "Stupid ass kid." He muttered. "But...I haven't seen the tall one in a while."

"Talking about me?" Dominick said from behind him.

"Speak of the devil." He responded.

"I'm thankful that Dalton, Martin, and I are such good friends. We didn't even have to talk this plan out." He revealed a powerful _Kamehameha_ that he'd been charging in his hands the whole time Dalton and Martin were fighting. "By the time you realize how strong this blast is, it'll be too late."

The man scowled. "You bastard. Don't think-"

"This is what you get when you bark up the wrong tree!" He released the blast. _"HAAAAA!"_

"Shit-"

But the blast didn't connect. Something had made its way between them. "Alright, that's enough, that's enough." A new voice said. "Do you guys want to destroy the whole place? That'll make my job a hell of a lot harder!"

Although the voice was new, Dominick knew exactly who it was when he saw the purple stripe and the silver hair. "Kashito?"

The silver haired man turned to him. "You know my name?" He asked. "I'm impressed."

"Huh? No, that was sort of a guess." Dominick said. "I just saw you when you removed Djara from the ring, and I figured you had to be Kashito. No one else would be capable of moving that fast."

"You saw me? That's even more impressive. But, I already know who you are, Dominick." Kashito smiled at him.

"I figured you were watching the tournament." Dominick replied.

"No, I've known who you are." Kashito said. "That's why I sent Kujako here to test you guys. And you passed."

Kujako bowed to his master. "Sorry, master. I caused a little destruction."

"Yeah, and I'm going to have you explain this to the Grand Kai." Kashito told him with a slight devious smile on his face.

"What?! No!" Kujako exclaimed, but then caught himself immediately after the rising of one of Kashito's eyebrows. He bowed again. "Very well."

"You can go now."

Kujako rolled his eyes. "Why do you submit to Grand Kai, master?" He muttered to himself. "You're so much stronger." He flew off to Grand Kai's quarters.

"Kujako's my only student." Kashito explained as they descended to where Dalton and Martin were. "He's a little weird, and a little bratty sometimes, but he's pretty strong."

"I can see that." Dalton said, joining the conversation.

"And don't worry. You can trust Soriyamo and the others. They only want to help you." Kashito told them. "They became interested because it's far beyond normal for three Super Saiyan 5's to drop in after thousands of years of nothing. There's that, and there's also the striking resemblance to your father."

"You knew our father?" Dominick asked.

"Of course." He replied. "We all knew your father. He was an incredible man."

"Can you tell us more?" Dalton pried.

"He wasn't very close to all of us, but we all certainly knew of him, and knew of his deeds. He managed to change one man so much...we could never repay him for saving that man."

"Who was that man..?" Dominick inquired.

Kashito gave a small, sad smile. "Follow me." He said. "Let's join Soriyamo and the others. We've kept them waiting for a long time."

* * *

"Took you guys long enough." Soriyamo said. He was sitting at the top of a pile of wooden boxes in the corner of the house. It was a small house to fit ten people, but it wasn't likely that they spent a lot of time in there. Regardless, it was kind of run down. The outside was kept up fine, but the inside looked like an old warehouse. The floor and walls were smooth stone, and it was just two main rooms. A bathroom and a bedroom were just extensions of the first room. The second room was strange. It looked like a typical locker room. Dominick couldn't see much of it, but that was the initial impression he got. He also noticed that Kasae and Sairyo were there as well. "How'd they you with Kujako?"

"They held their own." Kashito replied.

"Good." He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. "I guess I should tell you guys who we are, right?"

"I'd like to know." Dominick said.

"There isn't much to know." Soriyamo started. "We're just a group of Saiyans that all knew each other when we were alive. We died protecting our planet from a huge threat. That's pretty much all."

"Are you guys like an organization?" Dalton asked. "Do you have a common goal?"

"I guess you could call us an organization, or something like that."

"Then, do you guys have a name?" He inquired further.

"Why would we name our group?" Soriyamo asked.

"Come on, why wouldn't you have a name?" Dalton perpetuated. "Something like 'Saiyan Society' would be cool, wouldn't it?"

No one answered. Dalton froze. "Dude…" Rari was leaning back against a wall to the right of Soriyamo. "That's totally lame."

"I agree." Martin added.

"Yeah." Kaoren chimed in.

Dalton clenched his teeth in embarrassment. _You're all bastards…_

Soriyamo sighed. "If it's a name, why don't we just go with something simple? Like the Ten Super Saiyans."

There were nods in agreement. Rari leaned his head back. "It's better than Saiyan Society, at least."

"No it isn't!" Dalton protested, but they'd already moved on.

"Anyway, to make it easier on ourselves, we established a sort of pecking order around here. So you have to defer to people stronger than you, and you get a little authority over people weaker than you." Soriyamo explained. "There's ten of us, so we numbered ourselves from one to ten, with ten being the weakest. I'll just go and name us all off in order from ten to one."

"Isn't that a little...morbid?" Dominick muttered, but he was ignored.

"Lisa's number ten, Nyoriyo's number nine, Yosuhiro's number eight, Kaoren's number seven, Rari's number six, Sairyo's number five, Waichei's number four, Kasae's number three, Shirako's number two, and I'm number one."

_Rari was number six? It took all of my power to beat him, and there's five more people even stronger than that? I figured that Kasae, Shirako, and Soriyamo were stronger, but Waichei and Sairyo, too?_ Dominick wondered to himself.

"That's all there is about our group." Soriyamo said. "Now, onto the zanpakuto."

"Yeah, this is what we really need to know." Dalton said, crossing his arms.

"Well, you guys seem pretty clueless, so I'll have to start from scratch. These swords come from Universe 3, from a dimension called Soul Society. It's like Universe 3's Otherworld. These zanpakuto were made in an era before the art of crafting zanpakuto was perfected. In other words, they were mistakes, and as such, they were cast away. But the souls in the blade would not have that. When they were thrown away, they were cast into the Dangai, which basically acts as a portal between Soul Society and Universe 7. With that, the souls found their way into Universe 7, and began searching for strong warriors to wield them. Our zanpakuto, with the exception of Dalton's, are all part of what is known as the Seigyo Family of zanpakuto. There were originally ten in total. Up until now, we've only known the whereabouts of nine and their wielders." He pointed a finger at Dominick. "In your hand, you have the hilt of the tenth Seigyo."


	14. Ichimei's Determination

_Chapter LVI: Ichimei's Determination_

"Here's your mission, my new child."

"Don't fuckin' call me that, Hangyaku."

"I'm partnering you with the leader of the Elemental Wielders. Your host was very familiar with her. They may even have been lovers. I want you two to capture these three and bring them to me." Hangyaku said. "I want them alive. From the left, they are Dominick, Dalton, and Martin. I'm sure you recognize those names. Dominick and Dalton's father...was your host's best friend after all."

"You're making this difficult on purpose, aren't you?"

"I am. I want to test you. If you can succeed, I will give you a vital role in the final part of the plan."

"Well, ain't this somethin'." Hangyaku's child murmured. "Are they strong?"

"They shouldn't be anything you can't handle." Hangyaku replied. "The real test is in whether or not you can keep control of that body."

"That sounds boring."

"There will be six of you. On the other side, fifteen. Three of them are to be brought back alive. These two, Soriyamo Kageyoshi and Kashito Sanji, you are not to take on no matter the circumstances. Any of the others, you may kill."

He smiled. "Now that's more like it."

* * *

Ichimei woke with a start in her bed. It was like that every morning. And every morning, she looked to her left. Why she did that, she didn't know. It was as if she was expecting someone to be there. Every time, her heart sank a little bit further when that person wasn't there. However, this was the first time she'd had that dream. Normally, she'd let it go, but over her life, she'd learned that many dreams turn out to be more than just dreams. Deep down, she knew she'd regret it if she let this one go. She looked at the time and let out a little yelp. "It's already 11?!"

She jumped out of bed and put on some clothes in a rush. She picked up the phone and dialed the first person that came to her mind. It seemed to ring forever, but someone finally picked up. "Josh!" She yelled into the phone. "I need you to take me to the lookout. Can you fly me there?"

"Ichimei?" Josh asked. "Why are you calling me?"

"I'm sorry we haven't talked in awhile, but this is urgent!"

"Ichimei, just leave me alone. I can't face you right now." He hung up the phone.

She slowly took the phone down from her face. Then, she clenched her fists. "DID HE JUST HANG UP ON ME?!" Then, she stormed out of the house. "Fine, I guess I'll make him comply." With that, she began running. She didn't know why she was running. She just felt like it. She just wanted to see Dominick again.

Joshua's hair had grown longer. He'd always had a buzz cut, but now it was long enough to have bangs. Just barely, though. It could only grow out so much in a month. He also had bags under his eyes and a little bit of stubble on his cheeks. He was in really bad shape. He'd always been a smaller guy, too, so that stubble had probably amassed over the entire month. "Ichimei, why did you come here? I told you to leave me alone."

"Why, though?" She inquired.

"Why?" Josh repeated. "I betrayed my best friend's trust. I have no right to be a fighter anymore, and I have no right to see you."

She sighed. "I won't just sit here and tell you to feel better. If you feel that way, then this is your chance to apologize."

"What did you say?" He asked, his eyes widening a little.

"I'm saying that I want to go to Otherworld, so I need to talk to Dende."

Josh's face lightened up a little, like some life returned to him. "Alright. I'll take you."

With that, the two of them were on their way. Josh was flying faster than normal. He didn't ask anymore questions like she thought he would. That somehow made her happy. It seemed like he was already doing better, now that he had a chance to see Dominick again. The thought of seeing him again made her stomach feel warm. It had only been one month. But she still expected to see him next to her every morning.

"We're here." Josh said. She hopped off of his back and he lowered his feet to the ground. Dende was to their right, looking off at nothing on the edge of his lookout. He seemed to be in deep thought.

"I feel like...something's off." Dende whispered to himself.

"Dende!" Ichimei called from behind him.

He turned around and put on a smile. "Ichimei. And Josh, too. It's been a while since I've seen you guys."

"Yeah, too long." She agreed. "Anyway, I have a favor to ask. Can you take us to Otherworld?"

Dende was a little taken aback by the request. _What is this timing? Just after I felt that disturbance? Did she feel it too? No, I'm overthinking it. That's impossible._ "Sorry, Ichimei, I can't do that."

"Come on, you can make an exception, right? And besides, Dominick said he'd be able to visit us whenever he wanted." Ichimei pleaded.

"It's not that. I'm actually not able to. I only have the ability to bring dead people to King Yemma. Your request is outside my abilities."

"No way…" Josh muttered to himself.

Seeing the disappointment on their faces, the expression on his softened. "If you want to go to Otherworld, that would be a request for Fortune Teller Baba. I can transport you guys there if you want."

"Really?!" Ichimei's face lit up. "You can do that?!"

"Yeah, just come here. I need to place my hands on your shoulders."

"Thank you so much!" They ran over to him and he placed his green hands on their shoulders. In an instant, they were gone. His smile faded. The thing was, he knew Fortune Teller Baba was sick, and that was why no visits had been made. Something about this atmosphere...no, it wasn't even the atmosphere, but something beyond his perception...something was wrong. He couldn't bring himself to send those children to Otherworld.

* * *

"Are you here to see Fortune Teller Baba?" A short man old man with a back hunch and a fox mask greeted them at the entrance to the temple in front of them. It was gigantic. In front of them was a little entry hall, and in between that and the actual temple was a circular platform surrounded by a moat. The temple itself was easily three stories tall. "I'm sorry, but Fortune Teller Baba is very ill, so she cannot see anyone." The old man dragged them back from their awe at the temple.

"Huh?" Josh asked. _Damn Dende. There's no way that guy didn't know this._

"Ah- but what if we said we were friends of Dominick's?" Ichimei bargained.

"Hm, I guess that changes things. King Yemma has told us a lot about Dominick." The old man said. "I'll take you to her, then."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed. She was shining. Josh looked at her and smiled. Seeing her happy...made him happy as well.

As they walked through the entry hall, it became dark in the middle. Ichimei was mesmerized by the halo above the old man's head that bobbed with his every step. "Just so you know," the old man said, "there's no way Fortune Teller Baba can send you to Otherworld." He stated curtly.

"I'm _going_ to get to Otherworld." Ichimei responded.

The old man turned his head ever so slightly back at her. Although they couldn't see his face, there was plenty of amusement seeping through that mask. Within the minute, they arrived in Fortune Teller Baba's room. It was dark in there, but they could still see a little old lady with light pink hair lying in a bed. She couldn't have been more than two feet tall. And on top of that, she was basically a bag of bones. They weren't sure if she'd eaten at all in the last couple of days. It was truly a sad sight to see.

"Fortune Teller Baba, I've brought some friends of Dominick's to visit." The old man said with a kind voice.

"I already know who they are." She croaked. "You're here to see Dominick, aren't you?"

"That's right." Ichimei responded

"I think...I may be able to make arrangements for that." She managed.

"Really?!" Ichimei clasped her hands together ecstatically.

"What?!" The old man exclaimed. "Baba, you can't-"

"Quiet down." She complained. "If you're too loud, I'll just die right here." Both of them instantly shut up. "Now, young lady, you're Dominick's girlfriend, right?"

Ichimei smiled and giggled. "Well, actually, I'm his fiancee…"

"Whatever." Baba snapped. "Just come here so I can take a look at your memories."

"Huh? Why-"

"Hurry up before I change my mind and send you both home."

Josh rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his eyes. _What a cranky old woman._ He felt a glare from her and immediately stood up straight. _Of course she can read my mind._

Ichimei knelt down beside the old woman's bed. "Put your head down next to my hand." Baba commanded. Ichimei complied without questions this time. Baba's hand weakly moved up the side of Ichimei's head, then came to rest on top. Suddenly, Ichimei felt her memories from the past floating up to the front of her mind. She remembered the time she first met Dominick, Jishako, and Nagashi. They were only eleven years old at the time. It was their last year of grade school and she'd just moved from across the country with her mom. Jishako was the first to reach out to her, while Dominick begged him to stop with a red face. She got to know them better. Then, one year later, she died. All she remembered at that moment was a certain desire. She didn't realize it at the time, but she'd died for Dominick. To protect him, because at that time, she had probably already fallen in love. Not even a year later, Dominick died in order to bring her back to life, and she had to spend a full year without him in her life. It was then that she realized her feelings, and learned not to be afraid of them. From then on, she was always with Dominick. Even when there was danger, and he told her to stay back, she was always there to protect him. They started dating five months after he came back to life, and after four years of being together, they moved in together at the age of nineteen. Then, Katsu shot her, and she became afraid to leave Dominick's side. However, by being at his side, her determination to protect him grew even stronger. Then, she saved his life by expelling the Black Sclera out of his body. That was five months ago, in September of last year. It was now February, and Dominick had been dead for a year. Now, her determination was at its strongest, sparked by the dream she'd had this morning.

"Ah…" Baba exhaled slowly. "You are driven forward by fear, but that is also what blocks your path. However, your courage breaks those walls of fear. You are a very strong woman. Never lose your fear." She kept her hand on Ichimei's head. "Fear is reasoning. Fear protects you. Fear also petrifies you. Courage is stupidity, but it breaks the petrification. You need both, but in balance. You are still imperfect, but you've passed."

"Passed?" Ichimei asked. "What did I pass?"

The old man slowly lowered his head and sat down.

"Truthfully, I've been looking for someone to pass down my powers to. Otherworld would be in a mess without me. And since there's nothing I can do about my age, this is the next best option." Baba said. "Yet, it is a difficult responsibility, so I require your consent first. Will you take over my duties, Ichimei Sayaki?"

Ichimei sighed. "I don't know if I'll be able to handle the responsibilities, but I guess my stupid side is taking over. I'll do anything to see Dominick, so I accept."

"Good. Now just stay still." Ichimei felt some sort of power flowing into her. She couldn't really describe it as a power, but some sort of abstract knowledge. It was quick. She just suddenly...knew things she didn't know before, and saw things she couldn't see before. It wasn't physical things she could see, either. It was like she could see...into people.

"What about the crystal ball?" Josh asked. "I heard you had one."

Baba patted the back of Ichimei's head. "It's in here. It's essence is fused with hers, now."

"Thank you, Fortune Teller Baba." Ichimei said. Her face was full of determination.

"Yeah, yeah." Baba replied crankily. "Now, get going."

Ichimei's eyebrows tilted up. "But, we couldn't just leave. That would be rude."

"Listen, kids. My powers were the only thing keeping me alive while I searched for a successor. I don't want a couple of youngins to see me die."

Josh placed his hand on Ichimei's shoulder. "We understand. Thank you." With that the two of them left the palace. The old man watched as they faded out of view.

"You can go back to that furnace place or wherever, Gohan." Baba said.

He walked up and sat down at her bedside. "No, thanks. I think I'll see this job through to its end. I won't change my mind."

She laid quietly for a while. "...Thanks."

"Showing gratitude is unlike you, Baba."

"Shut up." The two sat in silence for a little. "I saw a lot of generations pass, Gohan. When Goku came and you two fought, I thought that there would be no generations like that one. Goku was incredible, wasn't he?"

"He really was. I couldn't be more proud as his grandfather. It also seems like he's passed his essence to his descendants, as well. It even spread to those who aren't related."

"You should be proud. If you think about it, you're the one who started all this, after all."

Gohan took off his mask as the corners of his eyes grew warm. "Thank you for letting me work here, Baba."

"You're welcome."

"It's been fun."


	15. Getting Comfortable

_Chapter LVII: Getting Comfortable_

"I have...the last one..?" Dominick gazed down at the hilt of his sword.

"That's right." Soriyamo told him. "Five of them are held by the legendary group called the Elemental Wielders. The rest are in our hands."

"Wait, but if my math is right, that only makes nine." Dominick told him. "If there's me, you, Shirako, and Kasae, then who has the last one?"

A timid hand was raised. "I don't carry my zanpakuto around much." Lisa said.

"There you have it. Lisa's got one, too." Soriyamo stated. "Zanpakuto have two releases, as you saw earlier. The first is called Shikai, in which you simply call your zanpakuto's name, and it changes shape to match its abilities. The second release is called Bankai, and to achieve that, you must be able to manifest your zanpakuto outside of yourself, and then you must defeat it in battle. I'll tell you this: you're far behind already. It's safe to assume that you're the only one among the wielders of the Seigyo that has not achieved Bankai."

Dominick found it difficult to form words in his mouth. "How...do you know all this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He smiled, and held his blade close to his face. "Kaishu Seigyo told me."

"Kaishu Seigyo...your zanpakuto..?" Dominick looked back down at his own sword. _I've talked to my zanpakuto before, but...I don't even know its name._

"Another thing. I'm sure you've noticed that you and Rari are pretty equal in strength, and that he's number six. I'm sure you've also heard that Super Saiyan 5 is not that big of a deal. However, it's not just that. The fact that you can't even keep your shirt on through the transformation means that you haven't even mastered the form. And out of the eight of us here that can achieve it...all eight can perform the transformation while keeping our clothes intact. Until you can master that, you will still be a child. Until you can master that, I don't want to see your face in this room." Soriyamo stood up. "All three of you. The next time you enter this room, you will be men. And then, I promise to make you all true fighters."

With that, he jumped down from the pile of boxes and went into the other room. Many of the other saiyans followed him, with the exception of Kasae, Sairyo, and Rari. Kasae stayed out of spite, Sairyo stayed to be with Kasae, and Rari stayed to show the three guests to their rooms. "Soriyamo said that you can't come back in this room, but he didn't say you couldn't stay here. We have a huge underground training area, and a bunch of bedrooms." He told them. "You're welcome to stay and use the training grounds if you want, or if not, that's fine too. Just don't come back into this room." Then, he went into the other room as well.

"That sort of pisses me off." Dalton said. "He's obviously belittling us."

"What he's doing is giving us motivation to get stronger." Martin told him.

"Well, whatever. I've already decided to prove him wrong, so I guess it's best to just stay here." Dominick walked into the other room.

"I'll go, too." Martin said, turning around to follow him.

Dalton went to follow Martin as well, but Kasae called out to him first. "Dalton, come here. I want to talk to you alone." He looked at Sairyo. "Can you leave the room for now?"

She reluctantly agreed. Martin looked back to see if Dalton was coming, but saw Sairyo running toward them instead. The two of them made eye contact for a split second, but Sairyo looked down immediately and rushed past the two of them. _What was that look in her eyes?_ Martin thought to himself as he and Dominick left the room.

"What's up?" Dalton asked him.

"Listen." He said. "Do you want to surpass everyone here?"

"What did you say?" Dalton demanded, lowering his voice.

"I honestly think that if anyone's going to find the missing people, it's going to be you." Kasae told him. "After all, you're the most like your father."

"In what way?"

"Well, in terms of power. If we're talking demeanor, then Dominick's more similar. But to be honest, your father's Saiyan genes weren't as active as they should have been. He never even got past Super Saiyan 2. But, he was stronger than I was at the time, which was only a year ago. It was Mystic Form. With Mystic Form alone, he gained that much power."

"How?" Dalton inquired.

"Well, let me ask you. How long were you meditating to achieve Mystic Form?"

"I think it was about seven months."

"Jason meditated for over 18 months." Kasae said.

"18?" Dalton stammered.

"And that's not all." Kasae continued. "He himself claimed that his form was still incomplete. He said that a complete Mystic Form would require two years of meditation."

"Two years? What makes you think that's worth it?" Dalton asked. "I can get really strong on my own in two years."

"In two years, you could probably achieve Super Saiyan 6." Kasae told him. "But, the complete Mystic Form is likely stronger than Kashito."

Dominick and Martin caught up with Rari in the bedrooms, which were basically an extension of the locker room. They weren't really bedrooms, exactly. It was just one room with a whole bunch of piles of hay. "We've pretty much been on our own this whole time." Rari explained. "Grand Kai doesn't really know we exist, and Kashito just became the Naga last year, so it's still a little bit of a dump, but the hay is a lot more comfortable than it looks."

"That's alright." Martin said. "It's better than staying with everyone else in King Kai's quarters."

"Well, it's already getting dark, so we'll call it a night for now, and wait till tomorrow to start training." Rari pointed at the corner adjacent to the entryway. "There's like five beds over there that don't belong to anyone, so you can pick whichever ones you want."

"We're going to bed already?" Dominick asked.

"Umm, yeah. We always go to bed right when the sun sets." Rari stated. "Don't you?"

"I guess we haven't really interacted much with the other people here." He replied. Then he looked around as the other eight people were climbing into their piles of hay. Only eight. "Wait, where's Kashito? I didn't see him leave."

"Oh, since he's the Naga, he gets his own place. It's just him and Kujako over there."

"Kujako…" Dominick murmured to himself. "He's strong, isn't he? But he's not as strong as Soriyamo. Who here is the most comparable to his strength?"

Rari had to think for a moment about that. "Umm...if I had to pick one...probably Waichei. Although no one knows how strong Waichei really is, he's definitely stronger than Sairyo, and definitely weaker than Kasae."

* * *

"AACHOOOO!" A little bit of snot dripped from Kujako's nose as he knelt in front of the Grand Kai.

"Excuse you." The Kai said, unamused. "Now, as I was saying, since it was under the Naga's orders that you fight, I'll let it slide this time, but if it happens again…" He rambled on. The Kai wasn't the same happy-go-lucky, music loving old man that he used to be. He was a lot more irritable now, and had a lot less energy. His white beard and mustache had grown a lot longer, but he'd stopped wearing his flashy sunglasses like he used to. It had all started when the first Naga was given the title. Grand Kai came up with the idea himself, thinking it would spark some friendly competition. What he didn't expect was for the Naga to gain more respect from the other fighters than himself. The first Naga ended up acting as more of a leader of Otherworld than Grand Kai himself. That was the start of the downhill spiral that he was in now.

"Grand Kai, have you disciplined my pupil properly?" Kashito had appeared behind Kujako.

"I let him off with a warning." The Kai responded.

"That's awfully kind of you." He said. "Are you sure you shouldn't be more strict?" Kujako looked up at his master with a hard frown, but Kashito just kept smiling.

"Kashito, I would appreciate it if you showed me some respect instead of treating me like one of your friends." Grand Kai told him dryly.

"Yes, yes. My apologies." Kashito replied. "I'll take my pupil home, now." He grabbed Kujako's shoulder, and with that they left Grand Kai's room.

Once they were outside, Kujako let out a huge sigh. "I hate talking to that guy." He muttered.

"He's in worse shape than I remember." Kashito said. "Kai's aren't supposed to age that fast, but he looks a lot older. His eyes have sunken in a lot." They walked for a little while longer in silence. Then, Kashito spoke up again. "What did you think of those three kids you fought today?"

"Each of them by himself was weaker than shit." Kujako said. "I could have taken them out with my eyes closed if they attacked me one by one. But, they do make a really good tag team. They didn't even have to talk out a strategy."

"Do you think you would have won if I let you guys continue?"

Kujako looked up at the pink sky. "It's hard to say. All I know is...that last attack would've hurt."

"Did you tell them?" Kashito asked. "The reason you aren't with Soriyamo's group?"

"All I said was that the three of them should attack me at the same time." Kujako responded. "And then I said it would be three on three."

Kashito chuckled. "I don't think they'll be able to guess the truth from that. In fact, they've probably completely forgotten about it by now."

"Should we just tell them?"

"I don't think it could hurt. I mean, what'll they do?"

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and everyone was sleeping like rocks. They all had to be tired from the tournament, especially Shirako, who had been healing everyone all day. Dominick was out cold as well, aside from his tossing and turning in his sleep. He wasn't having nightmares or anything, but only subconsciously trying to find a better position to sleep in. He then rolled over onto his side and pulled Ichimei's body closer to his. That familiar warmth made his body calm down, and he felt like they were sinking into… _Wait, Ichimei?!_

Dominick's upper body shot up from the pile of hay. He looked back down, expecting to see nothing next to him. It had to be just a dream. But it wasn't. No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, Ichimei was really next to him in this pile of hay. "ICHI-" He began to yell, then covered his mouth. He didn't want to wake anyone up. Lying next to him, she began to stir. Then, she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Dominick was speechless. "Ichimei...Ichimei...what are you...Ichimei? Is it really you?"

She hugged him tightly. "It's really me." She said softly. "I missed you so much."

"How'd you get here?" He stammered.

"Oh, I snuck in through the window." She said. "I honestly thought that I wouldn't be able to keep my composure when I saw you, but when I saw you sleeping peacefully like that, I couldn't help but snuggle up next to you."

"That's not what I…" Dominick started, but his voice cracked suddenly when he felt a lump in his throat. "Ah, man, I don't want to cry right now." He buried his face in her shoulder.

Suddenly, she pulled away. "Ah, I forgot!" She said in a loud whisper. "There's someone else here to see you! I hope I wasn't sleeping for too long." With that, the two of them snuck out the window that she'd come through in the first place. The window was pretty high up, so they had to fly out.

"Wait, Ichimei, when did you learn to fly?" Dominick exclaimed when they were outside."

"Today." She responded. "We went to Fortune Teller Baba's house and she gave me her powers. After that, I just kind of knew how to fly."

"WHAT?!" Dominick shouted. "You got Fortune Teller Baba's power's?! That means you can come here whenever you want, now, right?"

"Yup!" She replied. Dominick's jaw dropped. He couldn't even fathom the happiness that was flowing through him at that moment.

"Ichimei, what the hell were you doing in there?!" Josh yelled. "I've been waiting out here for an hour!" Then, he quieted down at the sight of Dominick.

"Hey, Josh. What's up?" Dominick flew down to greet his friends. Josh was quiet. "You alright?"

Suddenly he dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, Dominick. It's all my fault that you're here and not in the living world. I felt your powers a month ago right outside of town, and I tried to stop Ichimei, Nagashi, and Jishako from going too. But the truth is, I'm just a coward. I was scared to go because of that awful power I'd felt just the day before, and I put Ichimei in danger by not going after her. If I would have brought you Senzus, you may have survived that battle. I know what I've done is unforgivable, but I had to apologize!" His hands clutched at the grass beneath him. "I'll understand if you never forgive me, but still...thank you for hearing my thoughts."

"Dude...I had no idea you were feeling like this." Dominick said. "You can't blame yourself for being afraid. If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same thing. When that guy unleashed his power, I wanted nothing more than to run away, but I was petrified in fear. I passed out from fear. The fact is, you're strong enough to sense these insane powers, and you're smart enough not to throw your life away. Besides, if you died, there'd be no one to talk Ichimei out of doing something stupid."

Josh looked up at him, wide-eyed. Then, he looked off to the left. "I can't even do that properly, either."

"If you really want to be able to show up at the battlefield, you just need more confidence in your ability to survive." Dominick told him. "If you can't do that, then get stronger. Get faster. Get smarter. Do whatever it takes to have that confidence. I have faith that you can do that. We're all imperfect, you know."

Josh lifted his hands from the ground. "Just...get stronger." He muttered to himself. Then he clenched his fists. "That's right. I won't show up here again until I can carry myself with pride."

"Whatever it takes." Dominick agreed. Josh stood up and they slapped hands, bringing each other in for a back slapping hug. Then, Dominick turned to Ichimei. "Head home for tonight." He said. "Come back tomorrow and I'll introduce you to everyone. Bring Rika and Sakumi too, okay?"

"Oh- but we haven't seen Sakumi since Dalton disappeared."

"I trust that you can find her with your new powers, right?" Dominick told her.

"That's right." She remembered.

Dominick pulled her in for a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."


	16. Dalton's Decision

_Chapter LVIII__: Dalton's Decision_

It was still light out, and Dominick and Martin had just gone into the bedrooms. Dalton stared at Kasae in awe. "There's...a Super Saiyan 6?!" He stammered.

"That power we felt when I pulled you from the tournament the first time...that was it." Kasae explained.

"And Kashito...is stronger than that?" Dalton asked.

Kasae nodded. "Not by a slim margin, either. In simple terms, as of right now, there's now one that can even touch Kashito's level of power yet. Kashito's not a Saiyan. He has an entirely different style of power than we do. And as of our current knowledge, there's no level above a Super Saiyan 6. You're the only one capable of catching up to Kashito, is what I'm trying to say."

"And for two years...I must do nothing but meditate." Dalton muttered.

"If you do decide to go through with this, all I ask is that you find Liomara, and your father." Kasae said.

"Why do I keep hearing the name 'Liomara'?" Dalton asked.

Kasae sighed. "It used to be that Soriyamo was number three. Shirako was number four. I was number two, and Liomara was the strongest out of all of us. That was before Super Saiyan 6 was discovered."

"So in base form…"

"Yes. In base form, I am now the strongest. However, I can't use Super Saiyan 6 at will like Soriyamo and Shirako, so I was placed at number three. Anyway, one day, Soriyamo and Shirako challenged Liomara's number one spot, saying that they'd discovered a new power and they were stronger than him. Looking back, I think Shirako was probably along for the ride with Soriyamo. But sure enough, they had discovered Super Saiyan 6. They beat Liomara in a fight and subsequently became number one and number two, while Liomara and I became number three and number four. This was fairly recent; it was only about thirty years ago. Over the next ten years, Liomara became increasingly angry at Soriyamo, saying that Super Saiyan 6 was not a power befitting of a Saiyan, as one had to basically lose a battle to achieve it. That, in and of itself, should have been a red flag. That was not like Liomara to say something like that. However, after being his number two for several thousand years, our relationship was not only that of student and master, but of good friends as well. I trusted him. He left the group ten years after he lost his number one rank, and I stayed to investigate Soriyamo and Shirako's new power. He never showed his face to anyone except for me. Six years after that, Jason showed up. The two of them became friends. I saw less and less of Liomara after Jason showed up, but from what I did see, it seemed like he had returned to his former self. But he told me that he was done with our group for good. He told me that he and Jason were investigating something huge, and I had suspicions that it had to do with Soriyamo. Then, only about one year ago, he came back to the group. He was frantically telling Soriyamo that something huge was about to happen, and that he needed all of our help, and Soriyamo agreed. That time I saw him begging Soriyamo to help him...that was the last time I saw him. Jason was gone after that too, and so was the First Naga."

Dalton was in awe again. "So...that's why…"

"Yeah. Soriyamo was behind this. He and Kashito were friends at the time, so Kashito had motive to wipe out the First Naga to claim the seat for himself. There's no way they didn't have something to do with the disappearance of your father as well. All of them: Soriyamo, Shirako, and Kashito...we'll get revenge on them all."

That exchange was four hours ago. Kasae had long since gone to bed. Dalton witnessed Ichimei climb into the window and leave Josh in the dark for an hour, and he'd seen them go back. But he didn't make much of a big deal about it. His mind was on other things. Should he go meditate for two years? He didn't doubt Kasae's claim that it would make him strong, but he was doubting the fact that Soriyamo and Kashito were responsible for the disappearances. It just seemed...too convenient. It seemed like Kasae was jumping to conclusions. He didn't blame him, though. He'd done the same thing to Dominick, although he had a different relationship with Sakumi than Kasae did with Liomara. He would have done the same thing if something had happened to Piccolo when he was younger. Even after his fight with Dominick in the tournament, he still felt guilt. Not toward Dominick and Martin necessarily, but toward himself. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't strong enough to protect Sakumi. Maybe the guilt he felt was aimed at Sakumi. Maybe that was why he had refused any opportunity to talk to her. Maybe it was that he was ashamed of himself. Maybe...he'd already subconsciously made up his mind. He needed to be stronger, for her.

However, no matter how hard he tried to think about Kasae's story, and his mindset, his mind would always travel back to one thing: the zanpakuto he held in his hand. He'd been familiar with his zanpakuto for a long time. He was only eight years old the first time he met it in his dreams. A dragon made of fire. He was terrified of those flames at first, but at some point, he realized they were only there to protect him. After that, he was able to conjure flames into his blade at will. He looked at his blade and could feel the soul in it. All this time, it had been there for him. He found himself feeling guilty for his blade. "I've used you like a tool, haven't I?" He asked. "That's not how it's supposed to be, is it?" There was no response. "I've relied on you this whole time, and yet...I've done nothing for you. That's not how it's supposed to be. I'm so weak. I need more power. Today has made that painfully clear for me. You and I...we're supposed to get stronger as a team. You and I...we fight...as one."

_Well said, Young One. You should be able to hear me loud and clear, now._

"For some reason...I think I've known all this time...Jigoku Kara no Hono."

Dalton's blade reacted to those words. The flames grew larger than they ever had before. He could feel life in those flames. Then, they morphed into the shape of his sword. His true blade: A Dragon of Flames.

* * *

The sun rose too quickly for most people the next morning. Dominick woke up first. Or so he thought. Soriyamo had been awake for a while already, and was already in the other room. Everyone else began stirring. He also found that Dalton was awake. Something was different about him, and he couldn't put his finger on it.

Kaoren came running up to Dalton as soon as he woke up. "I want a rematch." He said bluntly.

Dalton looked at him in surprise. "I...I guess that's fine."

Kaoren smiled. "This time, we'll use our full strength."

Martin began to wake up with all the noise created by other people waking up. Shirako walked up to him. "Good morning." He said politely.

"Morning…" Martin replied with half-closed eyes.

"I believe my student is ready to fight you, so whenever you're ready, just let me know."

Martin sat up straight. "Yes, sir."

Shirako laughed. "No need for formalities." He said as he walked off. "We're both just Saiyans after all."

Dominick woke up determined. He began asking around where the underground training facility was and if he could use it. Rari stopped him before he could get too out of control. He was holding a large box in one arm. Who knows what he could have put in there. "Hold your horses, dude." He said. "You talk like you're going to be able to walk back into the main room tomorrow. That's not happening."

"Just you watch." Dominick told him. "It'll happen sooner than you think."

"If that's the case, then I'll be pretty proud of myself, since I'll be the one teaching you how to control that energy of yours." Rari replied. "Now let's go to that training room." He and the others led Dominick, Dalton, and Martin into the locker room, and in the corner of the locker room, there was what looked like a trap door. "All the training happens down here." With that, they all jumped in, one by one.

It was huge. It wasn't very deep, but it was so expansive that they couldn't even see the far walls. The ceiling was made to look like the daytime sky, but it wasn't very blue. It had a greenish tint, and to top that, there was a giant planet looming in the middle of it. It was probably what the daytime sky looked like on the planet that the Saiyans lived on 7,000 years ago. The terrain itself wasn't super different from Earth's but there were differences. The floor was made to look like a desert. However, there were giant, dark purple flowers the size of buildings scattered throughout the sand. The sand wasn't loose, either, like in the dunes on Earth. It was hard and compacted, and it was uneven, sometimes even forming cliffs off in the distance.

"This place is amazing…" Martin breathed.

"Took us like a century to build this place." Kaoren said.

"Let's get to it, already." Dominick said.

"Sounds good." Rari responded. "Everyone else can do what they want - Dominick, Dalton, and Martin are with me."

"Look who's talking like he's the boss." Sairyo commented. "I think you forgot that I've got a lower number than you."

A vein popped in Rari's forehead. "What'd you say to me, bitch?"

A huge, self-satisfactory smile appeared on Sairyo's face. "You heard me. I said you're too weak to be talking all this shit."

Shirako placed a hand on Sairyo's shoulder. "Okay, I think that's enough. Sairyo, our training's going to be a little different today, okay?"

"Hey!" She yelled. "Let go of me, you mop head!" Keeping his warm smile, he grabbed the back of her shirt and flew off toward one of the cliffs in the distance.

"She's a completely different person when Kasae's not around, isn't she?" Dominick muttered.

"She'll let her true colors show in front of Kasae sometimes, too." Rari said. "She's like a mini gorilla."

Martin suddenly spoke up. "Ah- actually, I'm training with Shirako today as well. Later, guys." He flew off in the direction Shirako and Sairyo went.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of that, I promised Kaoren I'd have a rematch with him today." Dalton stated.

"Yeah, you want to go start that now?" Kaoren asked. Dalton nodded, and the two of them flew off in the opposite direction of Martin.

"I guess it's just you and me, Dominick." Rari said in defeat.

"That's fine with me." Dominick agreed.

Nyoriyo slapped Yosuhiro on the back. "Hey, why don't we go have a match?" Yosuhiro agreed in silence, and the two of them flew off in a different direction.

Soriyamo, Kasae, and Waichei weren't present, so that left Lisa by herself, which she was fine with. It was the first time Dominick had seen her carry her zanpakuto. She started walking to the left, and jumped up on a little cliff where she sat down and laid her sword horizontally in her lap. Dominick and Rari walked to the right for a little until Rari said to stop.

"We don't need to venture too far from the entrance." He said. "The training won't proved to be too destructive."

"What's the training going to be, anyway?" Dominick asked him.

Rari set that box he'd been holding the whole time on the ground and opened it up. "Take a look." Dominick groaned upon looking inside and seeing the box full of only hair ties. "We're going to be using up a lot of these. And there's more in the locker room, too. You're basically just going to be transforming into a Super Saiyan 5 over and over again until you can get it right." Dominick groaned again.

* * *

"Let's get this started, already." Kaoren said. "I've been itching to fight you at full strength since I saw you and your brother fight in the tournament.

"To think that at the time, I wasn't even aware that you were a Saiyan." Dalton replied.

"Well, you better be careful, then. From what I saw in that fight, I can definitely keep up with you."

"I hope so." Dalton drew his sword. "You're the first one I've told, but this will probably be my last fight for a long time."

"What?" Kaoren asked. "What do you mean."

"I'm going far away to meditate for two years." Dalton explained.

"Two years?!" Kaoren exclaimed. "Just meditating?!"

"Yeah. I'll get really strong, so this is probably your last chance in hell to beat me." Dalton told him. "I leave first thing tomorrow morning."


	17. Mock Battles to the Death

_Chapter LIX: Mock Battles to the Death_

"I'm glad you could join us so soon, Martin." Shirako said.

"I want to start training under you as soon as possible." Martin replied.

"That's a good mindset." Shirako told him. "Well, your opponent shall be Sairyo."

Sairyo crossed her arms. She was number five, which meant she was stronger than Rari. This certainly wouldn't be easy. Especially with a set of morals like Martin's. "Shirako...I can't fight a woman. There's no way I can lay my hands on a woman. It's just wrong."

"Yeah?" Sairyo spoke. "I guess that means I have free range to beat the crap out of you."

"That's not a good mindset to have, Martin." Shirako stated. "In this world you are entering, you must be indiscriminate if you want to survive. This is a constant of the Omniverse. There _will_ be fighters stronger than you, man or woman. You'll have to fight women to the death. If you refuse to fight, you will die."

"Yeah." Sairyo added. "Not to mention, it seems like you're looking down on us when you say that. I hate being looked down on."

"Don't worry, Martin. Sairyo isn't fragile. You should know that much if you remember her rank." Shirako explained.

Martin sighed. "Alright. I'll fight her."

"There we go." She said with a devious smile. "If you take me lightly, I won't hesitate to kill you. That's what fighting is all about."

"You really are a different person when Kasae isn't around." Martin chuckled.

She suddenly launched at him and punched him straight in the face. "I'll make you hurt for that comment."

Martin slid back on the hard sand. _She's fast. And not only that, her punch was hard._ He wiped the blood from his nose. _I can do this._ He told himself. He ran back at her, trying to keep as calm as possible. She threw quick and hard punches at him, and he tried to take them one at a time. Her strength wasn't to be taken lightly, but what he took from Hotokira and Kujako was worse. He could handle them. What was scary about her was her speed. _Of course. Women have always had weaker upper body strength, so it's no surprise that they hone other techniques._ He took note of it, and changed his approach. He made the battle parameters as close as possible. Running away would do nothing. If would be a waste of energy, since she could just catch him. In this close range, he could feel her movements around him better.

"You think you can beat me just by getting all close and personal?" She an energy blast in her hand. "Beating me isn't that simple!" She released the energy blast at point blank range into his stomach, causing him to fly back and cough up blood. "You think I haven't trained myself for close quarters combat?! Listen up. You've got this nasty habit of underestimating people, and it's going to cost you your life!" She transformed into a Super Saiyan 5.

"Sorry, but…" Martin got back onto his feet. He also turned Super Saiyan 5. "I'm already dead."

* * *

"Looks like Martin and Sairyo are already going all out." Kaoren said. "Shall we do the same?" He already had blood in his hair that was bleeding down near his right eye.

"Sounds good to me." Dalton replied. He and Kaoren both turned Super Saiyan 5 at the same time. "I've said this a million times, but I'll never get used to looking at it from the outside."

"You and me both." Kaoren replied. "And I've been seeing it for 7,000 years!"

They launched at each other. Dalton hadn't drawn his sword, and was choosing to fight with his fists out of respect. It wasn't very long before he had the urge to draw it. Kaoren had a certain fierceness about him. He'd felt it in the tournament, but it was nowhere near to this extent then. It was like he was actually trying to kill him. Dalton was thinking this all while in Kaoren's face, throwing and receiving punches at a lightning quick rate. Suddenly, an opening in Kaoren's defense caught his eye. He took the opportunity and punched Kaoren hard in the gut. It hit hard, and it was easy to tell. Both of them ceased paused for a little bit as they felt the ring of wind extend out from the impact. Dalton knew that one had to hurt. Kaoren coughed up blood and fell onto one knee.

Dalton relaxed for a second, and before he knew it Kaoren's fist was in his stomach. He gritted his teeth in pain. "How…"

"How did that not hurt?" Kaoren finished for him. "How did I recover so fast?" He stood up as the roles between them reversed. "It's simple. My fists have what yours lack. It's a simple, yet necessary concept on the battlefield. The reason your punches can't hurt me...is because they lack the intent to kill me!"

"What?" Dalton asked. "But this is just-"

"This is just what? A mock battle? When we're down here, with virtually no consequences for our actions, with nothing holding us back from using our full strength, there's no such thing as a mock battle! We fight to get stronger! We fight to survive!" Kaoren's faced turned serious. "Listen, kid. Back when we were alive, the only way to survive was to get stronger. The only way to get stronger was to fight. And the only way to keep fighting...was to survive! If we didn't learn how to survive, we were shit out of luck! When we fight, it's always for real. It's always for our lives. There ain't no such thing...as a fucking mock battle."

Dalton slowly stood up. "If you say so, Kaoren." He smiled. "I'll come at you to kill you. You just have to promise me...that you won't die!"

"Are you kidding me? I've been fighting for 7,000 years. I ain't dying to a kid like you."

Dalton drew his sword and his power began to rise higher than it had ever before. It was much higher than it was when he fought Dominick in the tournament, and even higher than it was when he'd received that power from Hotokira. "Rise from your slumber, Jigoku Kara no Hono!" His blade, instead of being engulfed in flames, transformed itself into the flames. Then the flames took the shape of a huge dragon. "Prepare yourself Kaoren. I wasn't planning to use this on you, but you insisted. This is the power of my zanpakuto."

Kaoren took a couple steps back. "What the hell, man...you were hiding a whole dragon in that sword?"

"Jigoku Kara no Hono...let's go forth." Dalton muttered. "Let's burn our opponents!" He swung his zanpakuto forward, and the flames of the dragon extended out towards Kaoren.

"Shit!" He yelled as he put all of his energy into defending his body from the intense heat. It was over. Dalton pulled the flames back, then sheathed his sword. The heat was gone. Kaoren was left lying on the ground with most of his clothes reduced to ashes, but only minor burns on his body. His energy was expended, though.

"I'm impressed at how relatively unhurt you are." Dalton said as he walked up to him, helped him up, and gave him a shoulder to lean on.

"Honestly, so am I." Kaoren responded. "That's one hell of a power you've got." Dalton slowly ascended, taking Kaoren with him. Together, they flew back toward the entrance of the training room.

* * *

Martin was knocked back on the ground. He'd lost count of how many times he'd been knocked down. Sairyo never even let him have a chance to put his guard back up. Every time he would get back up, she'd kick him back down. _Calm down. Breathe. It's not like you can't sense her attacks._ He kept telling himself. He got up, and she kicked at his head again. He felt her leg approaching his head before it hit him. He managed to squeeze his forearm in between her leg and his head, but it still sent him flying.

"You punk. You keep getting up, but you can't do anything to me." Sairyo sneered. "What are you trying to prove?" In a flash, she was right in front of him. His face had grown bloody. She grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up. "Listen here. You're really going to die if this keeps up, idiot. I'm not afraid to kill you."

Martin chuckled. "Your attacks...you may have landed a lot on me, but they don't hurt at all. I've already gotten used to your strength." He punched her in the gut and she winced. "Your guard is down."

"You call that a punch?!" She yelled in his face. She kicked him in the chest and he fell on his back. "If you're going to act like a little bitch, I don't think I'll even need to bother putting my guard up."

"You should be careful how you talk-"

She stomped on his stomach, causing him to cough blood all over the floor. "Listen to me, punk. You're not taking this seriously at all. Look at where I am, and look at where you are. You aren't in a place to be taking me lightly. Unless you want to die, that is." He coughed again. "You're a pain in the ass. Does it really look like I'm not a threat to your life right now?! I'm_ going_ to kill you!"

Martin grabbed her leg and slammed her on the ground. He got up, but this time, his face was serious. "You let your guard down again." He said.

"You bastard." She muttered as she jumped back to her feet. "You still aren't taking this seriously!" She lunged at him and sent her fist flying toward his face at an incredible speed. He caught it effortlessly.

"Sairyo, I've been taking this seriously the whole time." He said. "It's you who hasn't been taking me seriously. I knew from the very start that there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with your speed. But, from the strength of your attacks, I knew that speed was your main ability. I was making notes on your fighting style, taking your punches so I could get used to their strength, and planning out this moment from the very beginning. Since I couldn't keep up with your speed, I had to think of a way to make you trip up, or make your attacks sloppier. And you made that easy for me. All I had to do was sit and take your punches and smile, and you got pissed. After that, your attacks became easier and easier to read. Now, I've got you right where I want you." He smiled. "You can't move, can you? It's because I'm stronger than you. As soon as you lost your cool, you lost the battle." She struggled and squirmed, but he did not let go of her fist.

"Alright, alright." Shirako interrupted. "There's no need to go any further. I think it's clear who the victor is. No need for any more bloodshed." Martin let go and Sairyo staggered back, holding her fist. "You have very impressive physical strength. Much more so than Dominick or Dalton. Isn't that right, Sairyo?"

She refused to make eye contact with either of them and remained silent. Martin smiled. "I've been training my physical strength relentlessly since we came to Otherworld. I'm glad it's paid off."

"Well, as I promised, I'll teach you to control that abundance of power." Shirako said.

"Thank you." Martin replied, bowing before his new mentor. "I'm in your hands."

* * *

"Damn it!" Dominick yelled. He'd gone through about 50 hair ties already, ad no progress was being made. Each hair tie he put on was incinerated each time he powered up. It seemed like a dead end. He wasn't getting anywhere.

"Calm down." Rari said. "I told you this isn't something that's going to happen today."

"I don't understand. It shouldn't be this hard."

"It takes time." Rari told him. "It'll probably be a week before you see any progress."

"This is so stupid." Dominick replied. He closed his eyes. He tried to make the energy escape him slowly, and less violently. His hair started to sway with the wind he was generating, and the hair tie stayed intact.

"No, no. That's completely wrong." Rari scolded. "If you let that little energy out, you'll never even transform in the first place. Making a tiny bit of energy flow smoothly is easy. The challenge is to release it quickly, yet completely controlled."

"Is that even possible?"

"Do you want me to show you again?"

"No, no." Dominick waved him off. "That doesn't help me at all." He then tried a different method. He released all his energy at once, hoping it would be quick enough to not break the hair tie. He turned Super Saiyan 5, and the hair tie disintegrated. He groaned and sat down. "I'm out of breath already."

"That's no surprise." Rari told him. "You transformed like 50 times. That's bound to wear you out. We'll take a short break." He sighed and sat down next to Dominick. He tilted his head back and looked up at the entrance. "Hey...I didn't know Lisa had an older sister."

Dominick looked back where Rari was looking. "Oh, hey!" He yelled. She waved back.

"You know her?"

Dominick smiled. "That's my fiance."

"Hey! I brought Sakumi and Rika!" Ichimei shouted back. Sakumi was riding on her back. Rika was presumably still up in the locker room.

Sakumi hopped off of Ichimei's back, and Ichimei ran and embraced Dominick. "You're a lucky bastard." Rari muttered.

Sakumi was looking around like she was lost. It made sense for her to feel lost. This terrain was different than anything Earth had. Just then, Dalton flew toward the entrance, supporting Kaoren on his shoulder. Once they got close, he and Sakumi made eye contact. Dalton froze, then slowly descended to the ground. Everyone stood in absolute silence. Sakumi looked at the floor, then back at him. Her face was filled with pain.

"Sakumi."


	18. Water Will Always Flow

_Chapter LX: Water Will Always Flow_

Dalton left Kaoren in the care of Rari and returned to the surface with Sakumi. They passed Rika just after entering the locker room. She watched as Sakumi climbed off of Dalton's back, and they both walked outside. Neither of them said a word. Today was the first time Rika had seen her sister since she moved out, which was five years ago, after graduating high school. She knew Sakumi was having a hard time at home, but when she found out that she ran away a couple months ago, she felt like she'd failed as a sister. They grew up with a single mother, and Rika realized it was hard on their mother as well, but that was unrelated to her superficiality. Both of them ended up hating their mother. Rika moved out to get away, but put it under the pretense of getting on her own feet. That caused Sakumi to be subjected to constant comparisons to her sister, and eventually led her to run away. She was sixteen when she left, and was just about to start her last term of her second year of high school. Rika felt she failed to protect her Sakumi from their mother.

"Have you been okay?" Dalton asked her once they got outside.

"Is that what you're going to ask me?" She said. He could see the pain in her face. It made his stomach hurt. "Where did you go?"

"I'm sorry, Sakumi." He said. "I was weak, and I couldn't protect you. I had to resort to something I regret in order to get stronger, and it ended up getting me killed."

"Do you have any idea...how worried I was about you?"

"There's no excuse." Dalton told her. "I know. That's why I have to be selfish one last time. I have to make myself someone whose name you can call with pride."

"You idiot…" She muttered. Tears began to stream down her face. "I've always been able to do that. The truth is...I don't care where you go...I just want you to take me with you."

"Sakumi. I really, really love you." Dalton said. "I have to do this one last thing for myself. I won't see you for two years. But after that, I can live my entire life for you."

"...Wha-"

"When I get back to the living world, I'll already be nineteen. We can live on our own, away from anything else. I can provide for us off the grid. We can...you're crying. Do you not want to?" He reached out to her.

She walked up to him and hugged him. "I think I forgot the reason I fell in love with you...so thank you for reminding me."

"Huh?" He asked, suddenly self-conscious. This was the first time they'd shown any affection in broad daylight. "What did I do to deserve thanks."

"You're an idiot." She told him. Then she pulled her face back and smiled up at him. "Hey, this was the first time you told me you love me, wasn't it?"

"No, I told you before, back in September when you first said you wanted to run away."

"I don't remember that." She pouted. "You must have said it in some roundabout way, like you say everything else."

He chuckled. "I guess I did."

"You've matured, haven't you?" She asked.

"I don't think so." He replied. "I'm just happier now that I'm talking to you. It just seems a lot easier to say it now. I love you."

"Dalton, I've loved you for so long." Sakumi told him. "Since junior high."

"Thank you, Sakumi." They embraced tightly again.

"So, where are you going to be over the next two years?" She took the news surprisingly well. Maybe she was just happy to see him. Maybe she was still holding in her true feelings for his sake. He couldn't know.

"I'll still be on this planet." He explained. "I'm just going to be meditating away from civilization. I can stop meditating for about an hour every month or so without affecting the results, in order to get food and such. That gives me about a full day off out of the whole two years. What's the date today?"

"The nineteenth." She said.

"So on the twentieth of every month, starting in March, at exactly noon, I'll take my break. You'll come and visit me during those, right?" He asked her.

"Can I really?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah." He replied. "You're the only one I'm telling about the breaks, though, so make sure you don't tell anyone else, especially not Dominick or Martin. If you have to let Ichimei know in order to bring you here, that's probably fine."

She hugged him yet again. "I'll come every time."

* * *

Martin got back shortly after Dalton and went up to go see Rika. Shirako and Sairyo came back with him, and Shirako began tending to Kaoren's wounds.

"I felt Dalton's power fluctuate in a way it hadn't at the tournament. That was Reiatsu." Shirako muttered only loud enough for Kaoren to hear. "Did that boy already unlock his Shikai?"

"Looks that way to me." Kaoren said, sitting up. "He called out what was probably his sword's name. Then his flames turned into the shape of a dragon."

"That's it all right." Shirako replied. "What was the name of his sword?"

"Jigoku Kara no Hono." Karoen told him.

"An ominous name indeed. It may be even more powerful than any of the Seigyo Zanpakuto."

Rari stood up. "You ready to go again?" He asked Dominick.

"The sooner the better." He said, standing up as well. "I need to get stronger, already."

"Don't we all." Rari replied. "But first, you need to tell me how three live women are in Otherworld."

Dominick laughed. "Fine. So, you know about Fortune Teller Baba, right?"

"I haven't seen her in awhile. I figured she died. She was the most recent Executive of the laws of Universe Seven, right?"

"I guess you could say that. She was basically in charge of who could visit the living world and for how long."

"Yeah."

"Well, she just died recently, and Ichimei was named her successor." Dominick told him.

Rari's eyes went wide. "Your girl's an Executive?!"

"Yeah, whatever that is."

"She'll get fired if she brings people over too often." Rari warned.

Ichimei's attention was grabbed. "It's fine. I got King Yemma's permission."

"We're here investigating some things on his request, so he said our loved ones could visit as much as they wanted as payment, but then Fortune Teller Baba got sick all of a sudden, so Ichimei had to take over." Dominick explained.

Rari slowly nodded. "Huh...well, works for me I guess. Let's get started."

As Dominick was putting on another hair tie, he heard a crash off in the distance coming from where Lisa was. That strange energy he was feeling from the tournament was back, too. In fact, he'd felt a little bit from Dalton earlier. He looked over at Lisa. She was too far away to see anything clearly, but it looked like she had a chain in her hand.

Dominick transformed over and over again while Rari and Ichimei sat and watched. He was still making no progress, but his mood had gotten better since Ichimei showed up.

"Hey, before you waste any more hair ties, I've got a little tip for you." Rari told him.

"Why am I worried about wasting hair ties?" Dominick asked. "I thought you guys had like an infinite supply of them."

"We don't, smart guy." Rari retorted. "And don't be too proud to accept a little help."

"Fine. What is it?"

"Just imagine you're trying to let all of the water out of a giant container." He said. "What you've been doing is either opening a tiny hole in the container, or just tipping the container over and pouring the water out instantly. So what's wrong with those two methods? Well, if you open such a tiny hole in the container, it's going to take days for it to completely drain. But if you just tip it all the way over, it will splash everywhere. The splash is what you want to avoid. The smaller the splash, the more likely it is that the hair tie stays in place. What you want to do is slowly tip the container, so only a little bit leaks out at first. But as the edge of the container gets closer to the floor, the more water you can release without making a splash. You get the idea, right?"

Dominick nodded. "Basically, I'm just trying to make the water run smoothly."

"Exactly." Rari said. "The problem then lies in how big the container actually is, and the fact that you have to drain every ounce of water. That's where the months of practice come in. It took us eighty years to discover this method, then another twenty to master it. But to be honest, I think you can do it in a year."

"A year?!" Dominick exclaimed. "Who knows if I'll have that long."

"This shouldn't be news to you, dude." Rari told him. "I already told you it was going to take a long time."

"Whatever." Dominick replied. "However long you think I'm going to do it, I'll just do it faster." He closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was in a pitch black space with a giant container of water in it. He flew up to the top of the container and tried to tip it over, but it wouldn't budge. It was then that he finally wrapped his head around the magnitude of energy that he was trying to control, and why it took so long to master. Finally, the container began to tip, and the water began to flow out.

_What the hell is this?_ Rari knotted his eyebrows and crossed his arms as he watched Dominick's power rise. _His power is growing this far and the tie hasn't broken yet?_

Dominick let out a yell and turned Super Saiyan 5. "That one felt good." He said, checking the back of his head. The hair tie was gone. He sighed, but still grabbed another one out of the box. This time, his power grew slightly further before the hair tie burst. "Yeah, that tip actually works." He grinned. "Based on how far I got it to tilt without making a splash…" He held his index finger up to Rari. "Give me one month. One month, and I'll have it completely mastered."

"You're completely insane, you know that?" Rari mumbled. "The scary thing is, you're probably not wrong." Then, he started walking off toward Lisa.

"Hey, where are you going?" Dominick called.

"You don't need my help anymore." He said. "I'm going to spend my time making sure you don't surpass me."

Dominick smiled. "Good luck with that!"

Rari just simply waved back at him.

"Dominick." Ichimei beckoned. He obliged and walked over to where she was. "I need to tell you the real reason I came to Otherworld." Her face was really serious.

"What is it?"

"I had a weird dream yesterday morning." She said. "I don't remember it vividly, but I remember that there were two men talking, and one of them wanted to capture you."

"Capture me?" Dominick asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "He said your name, Dalton, and Martin were to be brought back alive."

"What else do you remember?" Dominick asked. It was obvious that the dream had bothered her, so he sat down next to her and stroked her hair.

"Umm...there were two people that the first man told the other man not to go near, but I don't remember their names…" She said. "They said something about your father, and something about a host...oh, and one name really stuck with me...the first man, the one that was giving the other one orders, his name was Hangyaku."

Dominick's fist suddenly clenched. "I'm glad you told me."

"Is it something you know about?" She asked him.

"Just the name Hangyaku rings a bell." He answered.

"Who is he?"

"Hangyaku is the man...that created the Black Sclera. The fact that he's still after me...and the fact that he's got something to do with my father...that bastard just loves fucking with my family, doesn't he?"


	19. The Hunt Begins

_Chapter LXI: The Hunt Begins_

After Ichimei told Dominick about her dream, the rest of that day went without incident. Dominick kept trying to keep the hair tie from breaking, Martin and Rika spent all day catching up, and Dalton flew Sakumi around Otherworld, showing her where he'd be meditating. It was in a small mountain range very far east of the Grand Kai's palace. Rari sat and watched Lisa train with her zanpakuto. Nyoriyo and Yosuhiro continued fighting for the whole day. Shirako and Sairyo practice the healing arts after Kaoren was healed. Soriyamo sat on top of the boxes in the main room with Kaishu Seigyo lying across his lap, and Kasae had left the house out of spite for Soriyamo. Ichimei, Rika, and Sakumi went home in the evening, when the sun was setting. After they left, everyone started getting ready for bed.

Dalton told Dominick and Martin that he wanted to talk to them outside after everyone was asleep. It was there that he told them he would be leaving for two years to meditate.

"Two years?!" Dominick exclaimed after Dalton stated the fact. Dalton hushed him.

"This is really out of nowhere." Martin said. "Are you sure this will make you as strong as you think?"

"Yeah." Dalton said. "Kasae told me that our dad was almost as strong as Soriyamo, and he used an incomplete Mystic Form. I'm going to complete it."

"That's insane." Dominick muttered.

"It'll also give me a chance to reflect on my regrets. I really need this training." Dalton told them. "I've already made up my mind."

"Two years…" Dominick repeated. He finally got his brother back and after a month, he was going to leave again.

"I'll be gone before anyone wakes up tomorrow." Dalton stated. "I don't feel like getting sentimental so I'll say this: you two better not let me leave you in the dust."

Martin chuckled. "Like hell we would."

With that, the three of them returned and went to bed. Dalton was gone when they woke up, just as he'd promised.

* * *

It was the middle of March. Dominick had been training nonstop for over three weeks, and was very close to being able to achieve Super Saiyan 5 without breaking the hair tie. Martin had been training with Shirako and Sairyo, and was quickly learning how to control his power. Shirako was having Martin punch him while powered down in order to see how strong he could raise his power level for that instant. So far, he was able to punch with the power of a Super Saiyan 2 in his base form. It had been a little less than a week since Ichimei and Rika came to visit. It would only be about ten days until Dalton's first break, which was when they would visit again. Things were looking up, but the looming clouds of chaos were soon to crest over the mountains and envelope all that was good.

"Hangyaku put me in charge of you guys, so you're going to do what I tell you, right?" A man with a purple backwards hat and sunglasses stood as part of a circle formation with five other people in the middle of a forest. Next to him was a dark skinned tall woman with black hair, long silver earrings, and a black cloak. She nodded.

The other four were men. One particularly muscular individual out of the four rolled his eyes. He had brown eyes, dark green hair, and a large, pointy-toothed grin. "To hell with that. I just want to fight the strongest one."

"You're a moron." A shorter man with red hair retorted. His hair was pulled back with a wide headband and spiked out backwards.

"Shut your mouth." The green haired man snapped. "Like you're any better."

"How do I put up with these fools?" A skinny man with dirty blonde hair shook his head. One side was pulled back into cornrows and the other flowed in waves down the side of his face. He wore a white sleeveless gi that was loose fitting.

The fourth man nodded in silent agreement. He had long blue hair that covered both of his eyes. In the back, it was pulled into a ponytail. He wore a heavy navy blue gi that was almost the same color as his gi.

"All of you shut it and listen." The woman told them. "How do you think the enemy will react if they see a bunch of whiny losers posing as the Elemental Wielders?"

"Thank you, Emi." The man in sunglasses said. "Now, here's the game plan. Jakio, you're in charge of the diversion. We can kill anyone we want aside from our three targets and the ones Hangyaku told us not to touch, so do it however you damn please. Emi and I will enter the house through the back once the diversion is set in place. Akeboru, Taoshin, and Shimoria, you three will search South, East, and North of the house, respectively. If you find one of the targets, capture them. If they aren't among the five aforementioned, kill them. Once we've confirmed that none of the targets or those to avoid are in the house, I want Akeboru to put up a barrier around it, allowing no one to leave. This way, we can minimize the counterattack. Sound good?" They all nodded. "Bring them back here once you're done. Let's kick some ass."

* * *

"Is Sairyo not with us today?" Martin asked Shirako.

"No, I had her make an errand to Kashito's place to grab more hair ties." He replied. "We're at a point where you need to be able to not only control the speed in which your energy escapes, but also how it escapes as well. You'll basically be doing the same training that Dominick is."

"Great." Martin said.

Lisa was taking a day off from training, so she figured she would come down and watch Rari train for a little bit, but when she met him down there, he was taking a breather.

"You aren't training today?" He asked.

"No, I need to let my body rest." She responded. "I've been going nonstop for the last couple weeks."

"I guess my body could use a rest as well." Rari smiled. "Do you want to take a walk out back? It feels really nice out today."

"Sure!" She said with a bright face. That face made him melt inside. The two of them flew up and out of the training room, then walked out the back door of the house. The house was sandwiched between two forests, one on the north side and one on the south side. Rari and Lisa headed into the northern forest. It really did feel nice out. There was a cool breeze that blew in between the tree trunks that cooled Rari down after sweating in the training room. It was a little too cold for Lisa. After a while he noticed her shivering.

"Hey, do you want me to go get you a jacket or something?" He asked.

"No, I'm fine." She replied sweetly.

"You sure?" He asked again. "You seem cold."

"It's a little chilly." She admitted. "I don't want you to have to go all the way back...ah, why don't I just go get one myself?" She acted like a light bulb went off in her head and suddenly started running back to the house.

"Hey, wait-"

"Stay there, Rari!" She called. "I'll be right back!"

"It'll be faster if I go." Rari muttered. "...was what I was going to say."

Lisa saw a silhouette of someone just before she exited the forest they were in. It was definitely someone she knew, so there was nothing to be worried about. As she got closer, the details of that person became more and more clear. As she became more sure that she knew the person, they began to seem more foreign. As soon as she broke through the last trees, she completely froze in her tracks. She began trembling, not knowing whether or not she should be happy, angry, scared, or really how to react at all. "Brother...is that...really you?" She stammered.

The man turned around. "What's up, Lisa?" He said, smiling. "It's been forever, hasn't it?"

She ran toward him with tears in her eyes and jumped into his arms. He looked surprised as he caught her. "I missed you so much!" She cried.

"Ain't this somethin'...I never expected you to be the first one I'd run into once I got back."

"Where'd you go?"

"I had to do some investigatin'." He told her. "My best friend disappeared, and I wanted to know what happened to him." After a while, he pried her off of him. "Where's Dominick?" He asked.

_That was a weird question._ She thought to herself. Not to mention, his demeanor had changed slightly upon asking it. It was so slight that it was as if he'd tried to hide it. But it was like how everyone has a subconscious quirk that gives them away when they're lying. "Why...do you want to know where he is? Actually, how do you know who he is?" She asked him.

"You mean you don't know?" He let out a warm laugh. "Jason is Dominick's old man. I felt his power at the tournament, and it was so similar to Jason's I knew it had to be him."

She was a little relieved after hearing that. He probably just had some news regarding Jason and wanted to tell Dominick. It seemed so unreal for her brother to be back. He'd been gone for well over a year. Suddenly, she felt the need to run back to Rari to tell him the news. But then, it happened.

There was a huge explosion coming from the west. "What was that?!" Lisa exclaimed. "That sounded like it was coming from Grand Kai's place!" _And that power coming from over there...is Reiatsu!_ She was frantic, but motivated to get to the bottom of it. Her brother had come back after all. She couldn't let this ruin their reunion. "I'm going to check it out." She declared as she started running in that direction. Suddenly, a woman was blocking her path. She had no idea how or when she got there, but it was clear she was an enemy.

"Emi, there you are."

Lisa looked back at her brother with wide eyes. He adjusted his sunglasses. It was as if an entirely different person was standing in front of her. His face wasn't wearing the usual laid back smile anymore. "Brother...please explain this." She said fearfully.

"Emi, you take care of this one." He commanded. His voice was cold. "I don't want to have my hands dirtied with my own sister's blood."

"Of course, darling." She replied.

"Brother..?" Lisa asked, her voice cracking. Her pain was seeping through those cracks in her voice. "I don't understand...why is this happening?"

"Little girl, there's more pressing matters at hand than how much you look up to your older brother." Emi sneered. "Those matters involve a lot of killing." She pulled a sword out of her cloak. It was a Seigyo Zanpakuto.

Lisa's eyes grew big. "That's a...you can't be…"

"That's right." Emi confirmed. "I'm the leader of the Elemental Wielders, and the wielder of the Dead, Emi Sasaoka."

Lisa's brother shifted his head. "What's that?" He asked as if he was talking to someone. "I see. Tell Akeboru to put up the barrier. Make sure I can enter from the outside. And while you're at it, have him put a barrier up around the Grand Kai's palace, too. I can sense Kashito Sanji along with one other powerful person over there. I don't want them getting in the way."

Lisa stared at her brother in disbelief as he was talking. Suddenly, Emi was attacking her, and she had no time to react. She was hit in the face with the hilt of Emi's sword, and she was thrown to her back and slid several meters in the grass. "You shouldn't take your eyes off of your opponent, little girl." Emi chuckled.

Lisa instinctively reached across her body to her hip to draw her zanpakuto. _Oh, no...I left my sword in the locker room!_

Emi lunged at her again while she was getting up. "It's over!" She yelled. "I expected my darling's little sister to put up a little more of a fight, but so be it!"

Suddenly, she felt a foot in her side and fell to the floor before she could reach Lisa. "Rari!" Lisa exclaimed.

Rari looked back and smiled at her. "I told you I'd always protect you with my life, Lisa."

"Oh, well look at this." Lisa's brother smirked. "It's Rari. It's a shame that you had to show up so early, too. Out of the weaklings that live here, you were my favorite."

Rari turned around to glare at him. "Liomara."


	20. Soriyamo and the Ocean

_Chapter LXII: Soriyamo and the Ocean_

"I'm impressed that you could sense me." The man with the long blue hair said. His voice was quiet and reserved. "I thought I was concealing myself quite well."

"You were hiding yourself well, and that's exactly why I found you suspicious." Martin responded.

_Well, it all worked out for me, didn't it? This is one of the targets. Part of me was hoping I wouldn't have to fight any strong guys, but that's not going to happen, I guess._ "You're Martin Lozano, right?" The man said. "Looks like I have to capture you."

"That's not any way to introduce yourself." Martin responded. "I don't even know why I'm being captured."

"My bad." The blue haired man apologized. "I'll give you a proper introduction, then. My name is Taoshin Genreikai, the Earth Wielder."

"That tells me nothing about why you want to capture me." Martin retorted.

"The thing is, I don't really know." Taoshin told him. "I'm just following orders."

"And you gave you those orders?"

"Did you really think I would tell you that?"

"It was worth a try." Martin got into a fighting stance. "Well, if you're going to try to capture me, I guess I should defend myself."

That was when the explosion went off at Grand Kai's place. Martin jerked his head around to see a line of smoke in the distance. "Jakio's running late." Taoshin muttered. "Or maybe it's just that I got found too early."

"What the hell are you doing?" Martin said between gritted teeth.

Taoshin didn't answer him. _Looks like Dominick's still in there. But everyone else is gone. I think it'll be more efficient to trap him in there so we can deal with him separately. I think he'll cause the most trouble._ He then started talking, but not to Martin. "Liomara, all the targets are clear from the house." He then paused. "Got it." Then he began speaking to someone else. It was like he was on the phone, but there was no device. "Akeboru, it's time to set up the shield. We need two. One here and one at Grand Kai's place. Thanks." He then looked back at Martin. "That's all taken care of. Now I can capture you without difficulty."

Martin felt a familiar power appear behind him that encircled the house. He'd felt something similar to it before, but what? Then it came to him. It was similar to Mesui's power. The barrier that Mesui put up around him and Deis...he could only feel it when it disappeared, but this was without a doubt the same type of power.

"Without difficulty?" Martin repeated. "I don't think so." He lunged at Taoshin to attack, but his opponent didn't even bother to dodge. He landed his fist directly in Taoshin's lower abdomen. He didn't even budge. He remained completely still.

"You're naive if you think you can defeat me without using your full power." Taoshin showed a slight smile. "I'll remind you, I am the Wielder of Earth. Your puny attacks will never be able to break my impenetrable defense."

* * *

_What the hell is Shimoria doing here?!_ Akeboru stood behind a tree at the edge of the Southern forest, about fifty meters from the front entrance of the house._ I thought he was supposed to be scouting up north!_

"You're Soriyamo, aren't you?" Shimoria said. "They said we weren't allowed to take you on, so you must be the strongest."

"Who might you be?" Soriyamo said. He was standing just outside the front entrance.

"Shimoria Jensaka, Wielder of Water. I'm here to kill you."

_That idiot...abandoning his duties for his own selfish quest for power!_ Akeboru thought to himself. Then, he heard Taoshin's voice in his head telling him to put up two barriers. "Grand Kai's place?" He asked for confirmation. "Got it."

Soriyamo suddenly felt a barrier go up behind him. "I assume that barrier's to keep them inside?" Shimoria nodded. "Looks like there's five of them still in there, plus Kashito and Kujako are stuck over at Grand Kai's place now." _There's only five stuck in the house, but two of them are Dominick and Shirako. This could prove to be annoying. And I haven't seen Kasae at all today, either._ "I'll have to make quick work of you, then get to the bottom of this."

Shimoria laughed. "Make quick work of me? I'm the strongest of the Elemental Wielders! I'd love to see you try!" He pulled out his zanpakuto.

"Sure enough, it is a Seigyo Zanpaktuo." Soriyamo muttered.

"Damn right!" Shimoria yelled. "Rain on my enemies, Mizu Seigyo!" Shimoria's sword changed shape into what looked like a hook. On the edge of his curved blade, instead of one point, it had two, like a forked tongue.

Soriyamo looked unimpressed. "You know…" He started. "It's said that the elemental Seigyos are the weakest of the ten."

"Don't mock me, you bastard!" Shimoria shouted, lunging at Soriyamo. He held his sword in such a way that the two points were facing his opponent. Two high pressure streams of hot water shot out from those tips. Soriyamo quickly transformed into a Super Saiyan 5 and dodged the streams of water. "Already on the run?!"

"Alright, Kaishu Seigyo. Let's collect this guy's soul." Soriyamo's zanpakuto transformed into his two scythes. "I don't want to mess around too much."

* * *

"Hmm, looks like Shimoria didn't follow my rules after all." Liomara muttered to himself. "He's fighting Soriyamo as we speak."

"So basically, Shimoria's going to die." Rari responded.

"Likely." Liomara then turned to Emi. "I guess I should go search the Northern Forest, then. Emi, take care of these guys for me, will ya?"

"Of course, Darling." She replied. With that, he took off.

"Hey, I don't think so!" Rari yelled as he went after him, but Emi was already in front of him.

"I am your opponent, boy." She told him haughtily. "You should feel honored. I will respect your honor and kill you before I kill the girl."

Rari shook his head. "I've sworn that as a man, I would never lay my hands on a woman." Then he transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. She could see bubbling rage in his eyes. "But if someone is threatening my Lisa, I'd gladly throw away my life and my manhood to protect her!"

"How touching." Emi sneered. "It will be painful for me to kill you." She lunged at Rari. _This is all for the sake of my darling._ She told herself.

Rari saw a slight opening in her defenses as she flew toward him, and he took advantage of it. He sent an uppercut toward her jaw. It was a clean hit, or at least it should have been. His fist passed straight through her. What the hell? Suddenly, her elbow dug straight into his back, throwing him to the ground. "How did you get behind me?" He stammered. "No matter how you look at it, your energy was still emanating from right in front of me."

"If you look at it like that, then by all means, I was most definitely in front of you." Emi told him. "But the fact is, you didn't hit me."

"I know that." He retorted while getting up. "I'm asking why it didn't hit you."

"As a fighter of your caliber, you clearly have a heightened sense for energy." She said. "But all that is different between a person and all of their energy, from that point of view, is just a hollow shell of skin and bones. You see, what you saw was my energy, and yet you confused it with my actual body."

"That's impossible." Rari said.

"It's very possible." She replied. "Why do you think I was chosen to be the Wielder of the Dead? Out of all the people in the Universe that could be chosen, and believe me when I say there are stronger people than me, I alone was chosen by this Zanpakuto. That's because for short amounts of time, my body can function in the state of death."

"What..?" Rari stammered. "That's ridiculous."

"I left every ounce of my energy in front of you, including my life energy, and my hollow shell of a body moved around to your back. I then recalled my energy to my body and attacked you."

"Why would you tell me all of this?" Rari asked.

"What difference does it make?" Emi smiled. "I'm telling you that you can no longer trust your senses. Did you think that would change the result of this battle?"

* * *

Blood spilled all over the floor as Shimoria staggered back, clutching his chest. Soriyamo approached him as he kept backing up. "Tell me who's behind this."

Shimoria gripped Mizu Seigyo. "I'm not telling you anything!" He shouted. "I'll be the victor of this fight, and then I'll be the one asking all the questions!" She rushed at Soriyamo, then disappeared. Soriyamo looked around, not able to pinpoint the location of his opponent. Suddenly, he felt the inner curve of the blade caress his neck. Shimoria exhaled behind him. "Haah, damn right. I've got you right where I want you."

"You certainly are formidable." Soriyamo said calmly. "You may even have the edge against the likes of Dominick, Dalton, or Martin."

"You see, those are important people to the mission." Shimoria mumbled into Soriyamo's ear menacingly. "Now, you're going to tell me where they are, or I'll kill you right here."

"However," Soriyamo continued, "You were told not to attack me for a good reason." Suddenly, Shimoria's dominant arm fell to the floor, severed from the rest of his body. Soriyamo dashed away far enough to be out of Shimoria's reach. "You lost this battle the moment you challenged me."

"FUCK! MY FUCKING ARM!" Shimoria screamed in pain. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU FUCKING PRICK!"

Soriyamo put the hilts of his scythes together. "Enough of this. If I can't get you to talk, I'll end this now. Bankai." The black mist swirled around him and his power shot up. His two weapons had doubled in size and become one. "Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo."

"THAT'S A BANKAI?! PATHETIC! SOMETHING OF THAT SIZE CAN'T BE A BANKAI!"

"Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo's power doesn't lie in its size." Soriyamo replied. "Don't forget...my zanpakuto's power is to collect souls. And it's now time to collect yours." He started twirling his bankai in circles in front of him, and a black circle of energy began to form in front of it. "Jitaikesu." He said. "In shikai, this attack drains you of your energy. However, in bankai, it takes on another form." The circular black energy in front of him sprouted petals like a flower. "In its bankai form, the black energy swallows its opponent-"

Shimoria suddenly grabbed his sword from his severed arm with his attacked arm. "HAHAHAHA! DID YOU THINK YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE YOU COULD PLAY THIS GAME?!" He threw his sword into the ground, but it passed through the ground, making a splash as it went. A splash in the dirt beneath him. "BANKAAIIII!" Soriyamo blinked, and then both of them were completely submerged in a seemingly infinite ocean.

_What the hell is this?!_ Soriyamo thought he'd said that aloud, but he found himself unable to speak, or breathe for that matter.

"KYODAINAMI MIZU SEIGYO!" He laughed maniacally. "DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, SORIYAMO?! MY BANKAI IS AN ENTIRE OCEAN!" He exhaled slowly as bubbles rose from his mouth. "Hard to breathe?" He asked. His wound had stopped bleeding, and he'd regained his composure. "It's because you're underwater, of course. This isn't some illusion. This is its own pocket of space, completely filled with water. And it's only a matter of time before you drown. This battle is mine, Soriyamo."

Soriyamo smiled. While Shimoria was rambling about his bankai's abilities, he'd completed the Jitaikesu. _It's over for you, Shimoria Jensaka. You gave me more of a battle than I'd planned on._

"You think you can land an attack on me inside of this space?" Shimoria laughed. "I told you, this entire space is my bankai. I have control of every individual molecule of water in here." He swiped his hands down, and Soriyamo was forced downward with the sudden current. However, the Jitaikesu stayed where it was.

_Fool. Jitaikesu is energy, which is massless. It won't be affected by the movement of water molecules around it. They'll simply pass through._

Suddenly, the petals spiked out in every direction and started curving in toward each other. Shimoria's eyes filled with fear as he turned around and started flying away. "NO! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" The ends of the petals met in front of him and he was trapped. Soriyamo could hear his screams from inside the black flower, but he had been holding his breath for a long time now, and his lungs were starting to hurt. Suddenly, the black flower crumpled like a shrinkwrap around Shimoria's body. He blinked again and the water was gone. He could breathe again. Shimoria lay lifeless on the floor. The black surrounding him returned to Kaishu Seigyo's edge, then disappeared.

"As I was saying earlier, once caught inside Jitaikesu, this black energy absorbs your soul. In other words, once you're inside, your life is forfeit. You would have done well to listen when you had the chance, Shimoria Jensaka." Soriyamo sheathed his sword and walked into the southern forest.


	21. Taoshin's Insurgence

_Chapter LXIII: Taoshin's Insurgence_

"Damn, that moron Shimoria tried to take on the big dog and got himself killed." The red haired man walked out of Grand Kai's place nonchalantly as flames raged behind him. "Well, my job is pretty much done. I'm sure this fire will cause plenty of trouble around these parts." He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked away.

"You there! Are you the one responsible for this?" Kashito, Kujako, and Sairyo stood before him.

"This fire?" The man asked, pointing back at it. "It was there when I got here."

"I'm not buying that." Sairyo snapped. "Kujako and Kashito, I can take care of this guy."

"We'll check inside the palace to see if there's anyone else responsible." Kashito agreed, and then he and Kujako ran inside.

"Guess I'm not fooling you. You're smarter than you look." The man said. "I should also thank you. That white haired guy was on our 'do not touch' list. Now I don't have to run away with my tail tucked."

"Who are you?" Sairyo demanded.

The man smiled and drew his zanpakuto. "I'm sure you've heard of the Elemental Wielders, right?" Sairyo's eyes widened. "I'm the Wielder of Fire, Jakio Enju."

"The Elemental Wielders?!" She stammered. "You guys were friends of Liomara's weren't you?! After he left our group, Kasae told us about you, and how you were helping him investigate whatever it was."

"Yeah, well, we finished investigating." Jakio told her. "And Liomara got himself some sort of boss, and now Emi's telling us to follow his orders. Orders that he's getting from some guy we've never seen before. We don't like it much, but we don't have it in us to disobey Emi."

"You sure seem like you're having fun." Sairyo retorted.

"Of course I am." Jakio responded. "I get to blow shit up. What greater source of entertainment is there?" He noticed the barrier suddenly appear behind him. _Looks like Akeboru put one up around Kashito too, just to be safe. Looks like this girl didn't notice._

"You're sick." She muttered.

"I know that, missy." Jakio smiled. "Now let's get started already. You said you were going to take me on, right? I'd never turn down a fight from cutie like you."

"Just because our hair is the same color," Sairyo grumbled, "doesn't give you the right to call me cute!" She rushed at him to attack.

Getting in a fighting stance, he yelled back, "I was _trying_ to compliment you!" She punched at his face and he caught it, but not without sliding back in the dirt a little. _Damn, this girl's stronger than I anticipated. Fast, too!_ He tried to swipe her feet out from under her, but she jumped over his subtle attack. She brought her right leg up and kicked at his neck, but he jumped back and slashed his zanpakuto upward, slicing into her thigh. She yelped and leaped back onto one knee.

_Shit, I forgot about the sword..!_

"Not going to complain about how my use of a weapon is unfair?" Jakio asked, smiling.

"It's insulting that you thought I would." Sairyo told him. "This is a battle. Anything's fari game when we're talking about life and death. Something like a weapon wouldn't even count as underhanded."

"I like you." Jakio said. "It's too bad we couldn't have met as friends. I probably would've asked you out."

"Feeling's not mutual, bud."

"That's unfortunate." He replied. "But you know what is fortunate for me? That gash in you leg. Just from those few blows earlier, I can already tell that your most frightening aspect is your speed. Now, it's greatly reduced."

Sairyo gritted her teeth as she looked down at her injured leg. _Shit, I should have turned Super Saiyan 5 right away! He got me while he could still keep up with me._ She then smirked at him. "If you thought that was my full speed right there, you're sorely mistaken!" She was more trying to convince herself that she could go fast more than anything. She transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. "Try that attack again now."

"Aww, your red hair is gone. I really liked it." Jakio said. "I guess your arms are red now, but that's a little unappealing."

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth even harder. "Make up your mind, dickwad!" She screamed as she lunged at him again. She disappeared from his view for a little bit, then reappeared behind him and kicked him in the back of the head. She was for another kick, but by that time he'd turned around and blocked the second attack. She landed her feet back on the ground and immediately attacked again. She disappeared from his view again, but for not as long this time. He was expecting her to go behind him again, but she reappeared hovering about a foot in the air right in front of his face. She landed three quick punches on his face before he could react again. She had him completely on the defensive. She went to attack again, thrusting her knee at his stomach. However, he blocked her attack this time.

"Your speed really is something else." He chuckled. "I'm honestly really glad I cut your leg when I had the chance. I don't think I could handle your full speed." Sairyo glared at him. "What? Are you really that surprised that I blocked your attack? Even if you're a Super Saiyan 5, I can still fight you evenly. Why do you think I was chosen to be the Wielder of Fire? This blade of mine recognized my power."

He let go of her knee and she jumped back. "Fight evenly with me?" She asked. "You blocked one attack. And what makes you think you'll be able to land one on me?"

He smirked. "This." His reiatsu began to swell, although Sairyo didn't feel much of a difference. "Let's scorch her, Kasai Seigyo!"

* * *

The ground shook as Martin powered up to his full strength. Taoshin backed away subconsciously. He knew he was in trouble if Martin's power kept rising. It wasn't long before that rising power surpassed his own. "It would have been so much better if you would have escaped." He muttered. Then he shook his head. "No, that wouldn't have worked. They would've caught you anyway."

"What are you mumbling over there?" Martin asked. He had finished powering up, and his power level now crested at a much higher level than it had three weeks ago when he fought Sairyo.

"I was saying that you'll be a pain to fight." Taoshin responded. "I didn't anticipate that you would be this strong. I may have to use my hands for this."

"What did you say?" Martin growled.

"Haven't you noticed?" The corners of Taoshin's mouth slightly curled upward. "My hands have been behind my back this entire time." He wasn't lying. "I was raised as a pacifist. Using one's hands is a sign of provocation, and so I was taught never to use my hands. However, I was blessed with an insane amount of strength from birth. For that, my training was brutal. The elders saw me as a threat, and drilled it into my mind: never use your fists. They brainwashed me, in a sense. After years and years of training in solely defense, I became practically invincible, but I had no mind of my own."

"You're not talking like a pacifist now." Martin retorted.

"That is because a presence came into my life, returning my individuality to me. It didn't realize it at the time, but that was my zanpakuto. Although at that point, nothing could reverse the subtle tendencies, I now had the means to fight back. By subtleties, I mean the fact that I walk around with my hands behind my back all the time, and to this day, my heart still despises violence. I never hated what the elders of my village taught. I only had one discrepancy. While they believe all violence is a sin, I believe that violence in the name of ending violence is morally justifiable."

Martin sighed. "You're getting a little too 'preachy' for my taste. It's giving my awful flashbacks of Deis and Shihebi."

"I consider it good manners to tell you the reason that I'm going to kill you." Taoshin explained. "You see, whoever gave us these orders wanted you alive. That fact means that he's planning something. Most likely, he will use you as instruments of violence. Do you see what I'm getting at? My disdain for violence, and the fact that I can't go back to being a mindless sheep causes me to want nothing more than for this man's plan to fail. The only surefire way of doing that is to end your life here."

"I get the gist of it." Martin said. "But I'm not going to let you kill me just because of that. I'll make sure I don't get captured."

"Saying that you won't let me kill you won't do anything for you." He replied. "My zanpakuto hates fighting, too. It splatters her very essence with the pain of both parties involved. Our perspectives are mutually beneficial. While she hates fighting because she feels more pain than either person, I hate fighting because of a combination of laziness and ingrained memories. It's for that reason that my zanpakuto's only attacks are ones that bring death quickly and painlessly."

"I appreciate the thought, but I already told you. I'm not going to die today!" Martin lunged at Taoshin. He landed a hard hit in his opponent's chest that caused him to fly back several meters. However, he did not fall. Martin attacked him over and over, but he never fell. It was clear that the attacks were taking their toll on him. It wasn't long before his blood was dripping on the ground. The very next attack sent him straight to the floor.

Taoshin groaned as he laid on the floor. "Ah, sorry." He mumbled. "You hate when you get blood on you, don't you? Is that why you didn't keep me on my feet?"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Martin asked. "I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

"Well, if you come out, we can make sure that doesn't happen anymore. Isn't that right, Tsuchi Seigyo?" The ground itself seemed to lift him onto his feet. His hands finally moved from his back. They were covered in hard dirt. "Ah, this feels so weird." He mumbled. "Feeling my arms move...feels so unusual."

Martin stared in a sort of confused awe. "What the hell..?"

"Strange, right?" Taoshin asked. "Tsuchi Seigyo doesn't take on the form of a sword, but instead manifests in the dirt on my hands. Any movement that my arms make completely depends on her will."

"That's some crazy level of trust." Martin stated.

"You need this kind of trust to be able to truly wield a zanpakuto." He started walking toward Martin. "You see, Tsuchi Seigyo is a double edged sword. She places her trust in me, and lets me use her power. However, the one thing she hates above all is blood. Once she gets blood on her, she'll do anything in her power to end the fight as quickly as possible. Basically, what happens results in an instant death for whoever is losing at that moment, and that could very well be myself."

Martin smiled. "So all I have to do is get blood on your hands, and it's game over for you, right?"

"Not necessarily. Tsuchi Seigyo knows my limits more than anyone. Only if there's no way that I can defeat you will she kill me to end the battle." Taoshin responded. "So you can try it, but there's a good chance you won't even live long enough to regret the decision."

Martin lunged at his opponent and launched a flurry of kicks and punches. Every single one of them was blocked by the dirt on Taoshin's hands. It definitely wasn't Taoshin that was blocking those attacks. Those movements were unnatural. _I get it._ Martin thought to himself._ That dirt is his zanpakuto, and it's the one moving his hands around. That eliminates the limits of his muscle strength. But there's no way he can overcome the limits of his joints. I just have to go faster._ Martin closed his eyes and allowed his energy to flow into his arms. He felt them become lighter. He rotated them a couple of times. They were much easier to move. As he lunged at Taoshin again, time seemed to slow down. He could win. A zanpakuto was nothing but a soul that had limits of its own. All he had to do was surpass everyone else's limits. He just had to push his as far up as they could possibly go. His punches still weren't hitting, but his movements were slowly getting faster as time went on.

Suddenly, it felt as if within him, a bottomless pit opened up, and all of his energy fell in, which was a mere couple drops into the pool below. _Break these chains holding me back. I can go so much further than just this._ A punch landed on Taoshin's face and sent him flying back into a tree far away from the house.

It wasn't long before the ground lifted him off the ground again. "I underestimated you." Taoshin muttered. "No, that's not it. I didn't underestimate you in the slightest. You just evolved in the midst of battle." The dirt on his hands began to separate from the skin and swirl around him. "Man, to think I'd actually have to use this...what a pain." It started spreading out and encompassed more and more of his body. As it did so, it spread so thin that became virtually invisible. "Bankai."


	22. Recognition and Memory Loss

_Chapter LXIV: Recognition and Memory Loss_

"Hey, what the hell is going on?!" Kaoren shouted.

"It seems as if we've been trapped within a barrier." Shirako stated.

Yosuhiro and Nyoriyo flew toward the entrance from the back of the training room. "A barrier?!" Nyoriyo exclaimed as they landed.

"Who could have created something like this?" Yosuhiro muttered. "I can't even sense the power levels of anyone outside."

Dominick powered down from Super Saiyan 5. He'd been training nonstop for the entire three weeks. He now wore a green shirt with a white belt tied in the front that hung down to his knees, and blue sweatpants. "I know I've felt something like this before." He said. "This absence of power levels from the outside. This barrier was cast by an Angel."

Shirako's eyes widened. "You mean the Angels that are to train Gods of Destruction?"

"Yeah. The only thing is...that's impossible. That Organization collapsed recently, and the Angels and Gods of Destruction all went extinct."

"That would make perfect sense, right?" Kaoren interjected. "This is Otherworld, where people go when they die."

Dominick's eyes widened. "Then the person we're dealing with…" A certain name came to his mind. "I have to go check it out."

"No wait-" Shirako called, but he was already flying up to the entrance. He sighed. "I'm afraid that an Angel is the least of our worries."

"What do you mean?" Nyoriyo asked.

"Before the barrier went up, I felt a familiar presence outside. It was faint, so I'm sure no one else noticed it. I was something I haven't felt in a long, long time."

"Who was it?" Kaoren inquired.

"It was our old leader, Liomara Tsubasuke."

Dominick entered the locker room and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, although it was completely empty. Then he looked into the main room. It had been over three weeks since he entered that room. He smiled. He smiled because he knew that he was finally ready to enter it again.

As soon as he took his first step back into the main room, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. That feeling came from outside the barrier. As he approached the door, he came face to face with the blonde haired man, the one who raised the barrier. The man's wide eyes slowly sharpened into a glare.

Dominick returned the look. "Enryu Kenshin."

* * *

After Soriyamo killed Shimoria, he felt an ominous power in the forest. It gave him a strange wave of nostalgia. Akeboru was still hiding in the forest at the time. Soriyamo turned around and started walking south into that forest. _Shit, shit, shit! He's coming. I can't let him find me._ Akeboru pressed his back against the nearest tree as hard as he could. He closed his eyes and lowered his power as much as he possibly could. He knew there was no way he could take on Soriyamo in a fight. Especially since he defeated Shimoria so easily. Shimoria often claimed to be the strongest of the Elemental Wielders, but they were all of relatively equal strength. Shimoria just never imagined that his bankai could be beaten. Luckily for Akeboru, the presence that Soriyamo was looking for was not his. He passed by the tree that he was hiding behind without even looking back. _...Okay. I think the coast is clear._ He looked behind him._ I'll be hard pressed to keep searching in the southern forest now, so I might as well see what's waiting in the house._

Akeboru escaped from the forest. He approached the house, but paused before he entered after hearing footsteps coming from inside. The sound got closer and closer until Dominick came into his view.

Soriyamo soon couldn't see the outside of the forest. The southern forest was thick. It got dark quicker than he was expecting, and all the while that presence that he felt was getting stronger. The more he thought he might know who the power level belonged to, the more foreign it became. It became like a cloud in his mind. It was blocking his thoughts, making him question himself, and his memories.

"Yo, Soriyamo. It's been too long." A voice called from behind him.

Soriyamo jerked his head around. He half expected to see someone that he knew, but he'd never seen this person in his life. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"

"Aww, I'm hurt. You don't remember me?" The man complained. "It's me, Hangyaku."

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Oh, well." Hangyaku replied. "That's probably a good thing."

"Why would that be?" It was obvious that Soriyamo didn't know what was going on, and that irritated him.

"You see, I was the one that was put in charge of this 'assault', if you will. I was given command of the Elemental Wielders. I gave that command to Liomara."

"Liomara?!" Soriyamo exclaimed. "I thought I sensed a familiar power earlier…"

"That's him alright." Hangyaku responded. "I'd love to let you two go duke it out right now, but to be honest, he'd kick the shit out of you."

"Oh yeah?" Soriyamo scoffed. "I'm sure he didn't tell you about Super Saiyan 6."

Hangyaku laughed. "No, he doesn't tell me much. But nonetheless, I still know all about Super Saiyan 6, or whatever you call it."

"Don't tell me that he's also…"

"Who knows?" Hangyaku shrugged. "I just know he's busy capturing Dominick, Dalton and Martin. I kind of expected to lose one or two Elemental Wielders, so I guess it's going as planned. I was also told to do something else while I was here, and that was to simply knock you unconscious."

"What? Knock me unconscious?" Soriyamo asked.

"I know, it seems a little too easy, right?"

"Are you mocking me?" Soriyamo moved into a fighting stance.

"I have the strength to back it up." He replied. "Or should I say, the 'reiatsu'?" He pulled the triple bladed sword from the strap on his back. "Listen Soriyamo. You don't have the strength to defeat me anymore. You must return to how you once were."

"How I once was?" He inquired. "What do you mean?"

"Uh-oh. Looks like I said too much. Rinjiko will chew me out again." Then, Hangyaku also moved into a fighting stance. "Whatever. You'll forget soon enough, anyway."

* * *

Jakio's zanpakuto had four thick needles sticking out of the guard in a cross formation, and the blade had grown much thinner. Little spikes stuck out of what would have been the flat edge of the sword. "What's wrong, missy?" He asked. "Can't dodge my attacks anymore, can you?"

"What kind of ability...is this?" Sairyo stammered. She had several bloody wounds marked all over her arms and legs.

"This is the ability of my zanpakuto, Kasai Seigyo. 'Spontaneous combustion'. In shikai, my zanpakuto has the ability to isolate and spark individual oxygens in the air, creating miniature, controlled explosions. There's no way to tell where is going to combust next, which means there's no way to dodge."

"That's...stupid!" She exclaimed.

"You said yourself that this is a battle. My zanpakuto's ability may be broken, but that doesn't mean shit when we're fighting to the death. You're really good, missy, but I was just a bad matchup for you." The air in front of her stomach combusted. She screamed as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and coughing up blood.

"You bastard...this fight...isn't over." She stammered.

Jakio sighed and walked over to her. He squatted next to her and lifted her head up by her hair. "Listen. I don't want to kill you. But I have to repay my debt to Emi. I must complete every mission she gives me. If I don't, then that means I've died. Nothing else. Even if I'm taken hostage, I'll use my zanpakuto to combust myself. Failing a mission means death for me, and that's it. I'll do anything it takes to complete a mission." He caressed her cheek with his other hand. "You get the gist, missy? You'll tell me where Dominick, Dalton, and Martin are, or I'll kill you right here. And don't think it'll be painless, either. I'm willing to try torture if it means getting information out of you."

Sairyo forced a front and smiled. "Torture? You sure are willing to sink pretty low."

"I think that's my answer." He said. "I don't care how low I have to sink if it means living the rest of my life for Emi. Now, you should probably prepare yourself. Or talk. It's really up to you."

"I'm never telling you where they are!" Sairyo yelled. "Not because I care about them or anything, but because I want to see you fail-AAAAAGGHH!" Another explosion went off by the side of her neck.

"Quit making this hard on me."

"Oh, come on…" She managed through sharp, pained breaths. "I'm a petty woman. I live for making men's lives hard." Another explosion went off, this time at her upper left oblique. She screamed again. She doubled over, putting her forehead to the ground. It seemed as if she would hyperventilate. Suddenly, she disappeared from Jakio's vision. She got behind him. With all of her strength, she sent a flying back hook kick at the side of his neck, and it made solid contact. Jakio stumbled forward a little bit. "Your explosions...can't hit me...if you don't know...where I am." She panted.

"True." Jakio muttered. "But, I could say the same about your attacks. They can't hurt me...with puny strength like that!" He quickly turned around and jammed the flat edge of his sword into her calf, poking several holes in it. She winced in pain, but before she could do anything, he grabbed her leg and flung her over his head, slamming her to the ground. The leg that he grabbed was bent in an unnatural way, and she was unconscious. "Had you not taken almost ten of those explosions already, that would have been a gnarly attack." He sighed. "I'll leave you like this. Hopefully, one of your comrades comes and saves your life." Jakio began walking away from his wounded opponent when someone else suddenly arrived on the scene. They had obviously been in a hurry, because when they landed, it was with such force that a giant dust cloud was created.

"I came as fast as I could when I felt Ms. Sairyo's power level decreasing so rapidly." A man said. "I'm lucky I don't train underground often, either. Looks like there's a barrier around the house."

"Kasae…" Sairyo muttered, still basically unconscious. "You came to rescue me…"

"Sorry, Ms. Sairyo, but I'm not Kasae." The man walked out from the dust cloud he had created.

Sairyo opened her eyes slightly. "Huh..? It's...Waichei?" She asked. "What are you...doing here?"

"I'm here to save you, Ms. Sairyo." He told her. "I need to do what I can to repent for my sins."

"A new challenger, huh." Jakio scoffed. "Maybe I'll have better luck with you. You'd better hope for your sake that you're stronger than that missy was."

"Assuming the numbers don't lie, I am stronger." Waichei responded. "She is ranked fifth in our group, while I am ranked fourth."

"That's some creepy smile you've got going on, there." Jakio told him. "Do I even want to know what kind of sins you're repenting for?"

"No, you really don't." Waichei said. "Let's just say that I wasn't a very good person when I was alive. I managed to end up here instead of in Hell, but that was one deed. In King Yemma's eyes, that one deed overturned all of the wrong I did previously, but I disagreed, which is why I am still repenting. That's also why I've sworn to myself that I would never become a Super Saiyan again."

Jakio laughed. "You think you're going to beat me in your base form? That's absolutely ridiculous!" He pointed at Sairyo. "That missy over there was a Super Saiyan 5, and she couldn't even beat me!"

Waichei smiled, and Jakio's laughter stopped. It was a sort of smile that would warm one up inside, yet also send chills down their spine. "You don't understand. I was given the rank of fourth strongest long after I swore never to use Super Saiyan."

Jakio's eyebrows knotted a little bit. "You mean…"

"Yes. In my base form, I was able to defeat that Super Saiyan 5 you were just speaking of. As it turns out, I have access to the least amount of transformations in terms of levels of Super Saiyan. I can only use the very first level." His smile grew wider. "And yet, somehow, I will still be able to defeat you, for my power is without limits."


	23. Lies and Relations

_Chapter LXV: Lies and Relations_

Emi stood above Rari. "This is too easy." She complained. "I was thinking I would at least use my shikai, but that's obviously not the case."

Rari stood up. "You fool. I' not done. I won't be done until I'm dead."

"And how do you plan to defeat me?" Emi scoffed.

"If can't trust my senses for energy, I'll just follow you with me eyes. And if I can't even do that, I'll use my instinct."

She laughed. "Instinct?! If you think mere instinct will be enough to beat me, you're sorely mistaken."

"Let's test that out." Rari ran at his opponent and sent a side kick at her head. She stopped his foot with her hand, but the force caused her to slide back a little bit. He yanked his foot out from her grip and started attacking with a flurry of punches. She was tilting her head and moving her body perfectly as to just barely dodge each attack. It wasn't exactly effortless, but she hadn't let a single attack hit her. She ducked under a swing to the face and sent an elbow at Rari's gut. He put both hands out in front of it, but it still knocked him backwards. He chuckled as he recovered. "What's wrong?" He asked. "You haven't done that 'state of death' move in a while. It's because you can't do it while defending at the same time, can you?"

"Fool." Emi replied. "Even without that, you still are no match for me."

He lunged back at her. Right before he got to her, he jumped up in the air and front-flipped over her head. Seeing only with his eyes, he watched as her material body disappeared below him. He quickly scanned the area. He knew she would reappear close to him. If he was correct, then it would be behind where she thought he would be facing. In other words, she would appear right in front of him. Sure enough, her material body appeared where he thought it would. Her eyes widened when she realized he was facing toward her. He sent a roundhouse kick flying toward her left side. It was a clean hit, and it sent her rolling on the ground for several meters.

She staggered back to her feet, holding her side._ Shit, he may have broken a rib. I was lucky I returned as much energy to my body as possible before that hit me, or else that would have crushed all of my bones._ She stood straight up and slowly exhaled. There was a sharp pain in her left side when she did that. _Yeah, it's definitely broken. I can't use that move against him anymore. He's too perceptive._

"How was that?" He asked, smiling.

"You are better than I expected." She muttered. "To think I would have to eat my previous words." She drew her sword. A dark red goopy aura spilled from the blade and onto the ground. It almost seemed like a liquid. It was like blood. "Come back to life, and die as my shield once more, Boreigoku Seigyo." The shiny metal on her zanpakuto's blade began to darken and melt away. Her hilt morphed into a sharpened bone, and her guard was a broken skull. The blade had decayed away until it was a black, jagged remnant of what it once was.

The air seemed to become like molasses. "What...the hell...is this?" Rari stammered.

"This is my zanpakuto, Boreigoku Seigyo. Its power is that of 'punishment'. It has the abilities to call those who have committed sin from the dead, and make them act as my shield." Several humanoid figures covered in black flames rose from the ground. They had red dots for eyes, and that was the only thing that was not black. "Can't you feel the pain they're in?" Emi asked. "Those black flames are Sin. They use their sins as a shell, which is the only reason their bodies haven't disintegrated from the absolute pain they're in."

"You're making the dead come back and fight for you?" Rari asked. "That's terrible, isn't it?"

"Don't worry about it." She replied. "They are sinners, after all. They deserve all of the pain they are feeling."

Rari shot at her at full speed. The dead sprouted out of the ground in front of him. It grabbed his wrist and an unbearable pain shot up his arm. "Ple...kill...kill…" The dead man muttered. Rari screamed as the pain grew worse. "Kill me...please…"

"They're desperate to share their pain with anyone to lessen the excruciating hell they go through by themselves." Emi explained. "The pain you feel now is only a fraction of what they have felt for who knows how long."

The black flames around the dead man grew more violent. "KILL US! KILL US NOW!"

Rari fell to his knees, and Emi exhaled. One of the dead walked over to her and some of the black flames seeped into her side where her broken rib was. At first, she winced, but then she inhaled, and smiled. "That's enough of that." She said curtly. All of the dead returned into the ground, and her zanpakuto returned to normal. "Now, Rari, are you ready to be put out of your misery? You better hope you haven't committed any grave sins in you life."

* * *

Akeboru's eyes grew wide. "Where did you hear the name 'Enryu'?" He demanded, walking through the barrier from the outside.

"What does it matter?" Dominick asked.

"Enryu was the bastard that put me in the grave." He said. "The name is Akeboru Kenshin, the Wielder of Wind. Enryu Kenshin is my brother."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to capture you, and bring you back alive."

"To Hangyaku, right?"

Akeboru's eyes widened again. "You know who Hangyaku is?"

"You could say that." Dominick answered. "Let's just say I have some beef with him." Then, something dawned on him that didn't add up. "Wait. You said that you're Enryu's brother, right?"

"Yeah." Akeboru said.

"My mother told me about her father, a man who knew Enryu, and her uncle, who received powers from Enryu. But you never came into the equation. That doesn't make sense."

Akeboru crossed his arms. "Is your mother's name Jenako?" He asked.

Dominick shook his head.

Akeboru thought for awhile. "Oh right. She liked to go by Jeannie once they moved." Dominick's eyebrows knotted at the sound of his mother's name. "Looks like I hit the mark."

"What's your point?" Dominick demanded.

"You see...the reason her story didn't add up...was because her father and Enryu are the same person. That makes me her uncle."

"No way." Dominick protested, but somehow, all of the pieces fell into place. The reason she could sense power levels, the reason she always knew when Dominick was in trouble, the reason she was able to speak with her dead husband...she was the daughter of a real Angel.

"I guess that makes me your great uncle, then. It's unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances."

"I agree." Dominick said. "If you're going to try to capture me, then I will fight back."

"You will try." His eyes went blank and his irises disappeared. "You'd do well to remember that I have traded in my soul for these divine powers. And as an Elemental Wielder, I can also use shikai and bankai."

* * *

Taoshin's bankai looked unimpressive. In fact, it looked like his zanpakuto had just disappeared. However, he hadn't held such confidence until now. Martin stood waiting to attack, but he felt a sort of uneasiness about the situation at hand. He was hesitant to start.

"Not going to attack?" Taoshin asked.

"There has to be some catch." Martin replied. "Your bankai can't just be nothing."

"Why don't you come find out?" He beckoned.

Martin still didn't know what to do. _Should I wait for him to make a move? No, that's not likely to happen. I mean, he's already put his hands behind his back again. I think my best bet right now is to attack him fast and hard. Do as much damage as I can do in a short time._ "Alright then." He shot at Taoshin as fast as he could, unleashing several punches within that moment. Taoshin didn't even move. Every punch stopped short as if they'd hit a barrier around his body. Martin clicked his tongue and quickly moved to Taoshin's back. He tried a hard kick and multiple punches, but they all ended in the same result.

"My bankai, Shikorizui Tsuchi Seigyo, has the ability of absolute defense." Taoshin explained. "The dirt that previously controlled my hands has no spread around my body, so infinitesimally thin that it cannot be seen. And yet, when infused with my energy, it becomes impenetrable."

"Nothing is truly impenetrable." Martin growled.

"Test that theory out, then." Toashin told him. "I won't fight back. Once it is clear to Tsuchi Seigyo that I can win, all I have to do is draw blood and your life is forfeit." For the first time, he actually smiled. "Come, Martin! Come die in the name of stopping violence!"

Martin scowled. _I have to break that barrier, or else I'm dead. I have to change my tactics. I need power over speed, now._ He ran at Taoshin, and as hard as he could, punched the barrier. The earth rumbled from the force, but the shield remained unbroken. He tried again, putting all of his power into his fists. He suddenly felt winded.

"You should be careful how much you touch Shikorizui Tsuchi Seigyo." Taoshin mentioned. "As you can probably tell by now, she can be petty sometimes. In her bankai state, to lessen her pain, she steals the energy of any who cause her pain."

"Well, I can't stop now!" Martin yelled. "It has to give way at some point!" He kept bashing on the shield around his opponent with all of his strength.

"Fool." Taoshin muttered. "Do you see now, Tsuchi Seigyo? This boy can't beat us. It's time to end this senseless violence." Martin jumped back, trying to catch his breath. That zanpakuto has stolen more energy than he'd realized. "Smart move. However, it means nothing. Your life is still forfeit."

"I don't think so!" Martin shouted. _That's right. My limits. They were only placed there...by myself. I have more energy than just this. Now's the time to tap into that._ His power level began to swell, and lightning formed around him. He placed his hands out in front of him and showed his palms to his opponent. A dense, bright yellow energy began to form in his hands. His power level did not stop rising.

"I can feel you shaking below me, Tsuchi Seigyo." Taoshin said. "That's you telling me to hurry it up, right? Well, let's do it, then. We will thwart Hangyaku's plans, and stop this fighting once and for all. Then, the two of us can run away, and live on our own, floating down the calmest river on our backs...without a worry in the world. Isn't that what we wanted?" He gripped at his heart. That's where the true essence of his zanpakuto lied. "It pains me to have to take your life, Martin, but I have no other choice!" He moved his hands from behind his back. It was the first time he'd done so on his own. He took his right hand and thrust it up and forward. A jagged spike of rock came out flying out of the ground, ready to impale its target.

Martin then released all of the energy he'd been building up. _"FINAL FLASH!"_ The blast was sent off and immediately incinerated the rock spike flying at him. It crashed against the shield around Taoshin, and the earth began to shake even more. Cracks began to form in the ground, branches swayed on trees, and he thought he heard something crying out.

Taoshin put more and more energy into keeping the barrier around him active, but it finally started to crack. "No, no!" He yelled. "Come on, Tsuchi Seigyo! We just have to pull out of this one alive, and that's it! We'll never have to fight again!" The barrier cracked further, and some of the energy was starting to seep through. "COME ON!" He poured the last of his energy into the barrier until he was empty. But Martin's attack didn't let up. The barrier shattered once Taoshin stopped supplying energy to it, and both he and Tsuchi Seigyo were engulfed in the attack.

Martin cut the blast off and fell to his knees, panting as though his life depended on it. He'd never been able to tap into this much energy before, but couldn't tell what was different this time around. Why couldn't he use this much against Hotokira? He didn't know. He was too exhausted to think.

The dust finally cleared, revealing a motionless Taoshin lying on the broken up earth below him. His zanpakuto was nowhere to be seen.


	24. Individual Motives

_Chapter LXVI: Individual Motives_

_Ahh...I'm free._ Taoshin found himself on his back, just floating. He had no idea where he had started or where he was going to end up. It was the river. The river that he and Tsuchi Seigyo had always dreamed of. They were finally alone, without a care in the world. He looked around him. The sky was more blue than he'd ever seen it, and beautiful flowers sprouted up at the river bank. _It's so pretty, isn't it, Tsuchi Seigyo? ...Tsuchi Seigyo? ...You're in pain, aren't you?_

He opened his eyes suddenly. He saw Martin walking away. "W-wait…" He managed.

"What?" Martin looked back. "This battle is over."

Taoshin scowled and clawed at the ground. "This battle...isn't over...until you're dead! Tsuchi Seigyo's got my blood on her. She's in pain and ready to end this battle. Even if I can't beat you on my own...I'll take you out with me!" His body began to harden and turn to stone. Then, it began to crack. From within the cracks, a red glow began to show. The air around them became very hot. _Just breathe. We'll be gone soon. Even if we won't get to live in bliss, we will die in the bliss of knowing that we have stopped Hangyaku._ Soon, his entire body started to become red and the air grew even hotter.

"What is this?!" Martin exclaimed. A white light seeped through all of the cracks in Taoshin's red body. His stomach sank. _Oh, no. He's self-destructing!_ Martin turned around and started to fly away, but it his movements seemed too slow. He felt the burning heat creeping up behind him. He didn't want to look back, but he couldn't help himself. When he turned around, he saw nothing but a blinding white light and felt nothing but searing heat. _I can't see anything...I can't hear anything...I can't feel anything...is this the end? Did he really get me? Was I really so careless? I heard that your existence is erased after you die in once you're already in Otherworld. Is this white space...where I'll end up?_

* * *

"What the hell was that explosion?!" Dominick exclaimed.

"That was Taoshin." Akeboru told him. "It seems he lost. To think that out of the four of us, he would be the treasonous one…"

"I can't sense Martin's energy..!" Dominick stammered. He closed his eyes to search more intently.

"They are both dead. Martin died in Taoshin's self-destruction."

"That can't be true." Dominick growled. "Martin wouldn't die so easily."

"You call that an easy death?" Akeboru asked. "A self-destruction comes at the cost of the user's life. Of course it has the ability to kill an opponent much stronger than the one using it."

Dominick sighed. Then, he suddenly transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. His shirt remained intact. "Let's go somewhere else. I'm going to take out all my anger on you. I don't care if you're my great uncle or whatever."

"Why should we?" Akeboru asked. "It would be much easier for me if we just stayed in here."

Dominick started approaching him. "Why you…"

"Rip, Kaze Seigyo." Akeboru drew his zanpakuto and it morphed into what looked like a number seven. Without hesitation, he threw his sword at Dominick, but it missed and flew straight for the back wall. It passed straight through, ripping open a hole much larger than the size of the blade.

A gash opened up on the side of Dominick's arm. "What the hell?" He exclaimed.

"I knew that with this amount of power you hold, there would be no way I could defeat you without the use of my zanpakuto." Akeboru explained. "Kaze Seigyo is actually made up of millions of tiny blades that oscillate in every direction so fast that all you see is the blade that I'm holding." The blade returned through the hole it created in the wall and it was caught by Akeboru. "It's shape also allows it to return to me through the air."

"So it's like a boomerang." Dominick said.

"I don't know what that is, but sure." He twirled Kaze Seigyo around his body. Dominick felt a gust of wind blow against him. "Enough talk. I have a mission to complete."

When he moved, Dominick drew his sword in defense. He flew forward and they clashed blades inside the house. Their blades locked, and several cuts seemed to open up by themselves on Dominick's chest. Wincing, he pushed Akeboru backwards. "I've gotten a lot stronger since I've come here. Hangyaku must be underestimating me if he thinks I can't defeat you."

"You have a Seigyo Zanpakuto." Akeboru muttered. "Could it be the tenth one?"

"So I've heard." Dominick replied.

"What is its name?" He asked.

"That's the thing. I haven't learned its name yet."

Akeboru laughed. "You don't know your zanpakuto's name? And you think you can defeat me?!" He lunged at Dominick again. He swung downward at the top of his head. Dominick fully extended both arms upward to block it. No cuts appeared in his head.

"So this is enough distance for your blades not to reach me." He said smiling. Then, he winced as several nicks appeared in his hands. He lowered one hand and used it to punch Akeboru straight in the upper abdomen, causing him to stagger back.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Kaoren exclaimed, having just come through into the main room. Nyoriyo and Yosuhiro stood behind him.

"Great." Akeboru said sarcastically. "You're all nuisances, so get lost." He swung his sword at them and they were all blown back by a gust of wind. Shirako appeared behind them and caught all three of them.

"I would like to second Kaoren's question." Shirako said.

"Impressive." Akeboru commended. "You withstood that blast of wind and caught those three at once. What is your name?"

"Shirako Yasufumi." He replied.

"You weren't on the list of people to not touch. But you could pose a threat if not dealt with. I'll dispose of you after Dominick is knocked out." He stated.

Dominick gave a sigh at that one. "That sentence was objectively wrong. But I agree that it's better to fight one on one." He ran toward Akeboru and disappeared in front of him. After a couple of seconds, his image appeared behind him. Akeboru turned around and swung his sword, which passed straight through the image. Dominick reappeared in the place that he'd disappeared in the first place and tackled Akeboru. The force sent them both flying through the front door.

_Shit, we'll hit the barrier at this rate, and I can't slow us down...I have no other choice._ He opened up a temporary hole in the barrier at the door and the two of them flew through it. They tumbled out into the grass on the south side of the house, leaving the other four stuck by themselves.

"I made it out." Dominick said. "Looks like I can find my ways to get through your barriers."

"Whether you are outside or inside does not matter. Perhaps it is better outside." Akeboru retorted. "The result will stay the same. Capturing you alive will bring me closer to him. Every mission I complete brings me closer to Enryu."

* * *

"What the hell is this?!" Jakio shouted with a smile. "You told me you were strong, but look at this! You can't even touch me! You're weaker than the missy I was just fighting!"

"You're cocky." Waichei muttered.

"Don't I have the right to be cocky right now?"

Waichei chuckled. A chill went down Jakio's spine. "Cocky bastards like you...are the most fun to defeat!" He lunged at his opponent. Before he even came close, several explosions went off on his body and he fell to the ground. He had already been hit by about twenty.

"You're bipolar or something, aren't you?" Jakio asked. "God, you're creepy."

Waichei got up again. "Maybe I am. And what of it? This is a battle, so who cares, as long as we can beat the shit out of each other?"

"You never die, do you?" Jakio complained. "Maybe that's why you're ranked so high." More explosions went off on Waichei's body. "But you can only lose so much blood, and from the looks of it, you've lost quite a bit already."

Waichei fell back to one knee, and then started laughing. "It's when I start losing blood...that I start feeling this damn good!" He stood up. "Man, my adrenaline's really going. I might actually die! I haven't felt a rush like this in forever!" He ran at his opponent again. Multiple explosions went off on his body, but that only served to slow him down this time. He just pushed on through the smoke created by the explosions.

"What?!" Jakio exclaimed. Waichei was already upon him. He sent a left hook to Jakio's face. The Fire Wielder blocked it with the flat edge of his sword with absolutely no time to spare.

Waichei's smile was like a beast's. Jakio almost felt actual pain from his murderous intent. He shoved the crazed saiyan off of him and swung his blade, slashing a diagonal cut in his chest. He noticed that Waichei's power was all that great, but it was purely his ability to die that made him so scary. Well, that wasn't entirely true, either. It was also his personality that came out during fights. That's what sent chills down his spine.

Several more explosions detonated. Waichei wasn't affected. He was faster this time too. They didn't slow him down as much. As a result, Jakio didn't have as much time to dodge. Waichei landed a fit right in his gut and his opponent doubled over. "I can feel my power increasing by the second!" He shouted. "Every moment that passes, your chances of beating me dwindle further and further, and soon, you won't be able to do shit!"

Jakio's body temperature started heating up. "That's enough of your shit." He muttered under his breath.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you."

"I SAID ENOUGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! BANKAI!" He took the headband off of his head and his skin darkened. Devil horns sprouted out of his forehead where his headband was covering. From deep red flames manifested a very wide double edged sword. Both edges were serrated and the base of the hilt had flames escaping from a small purple sphere. "Akumono Kasai Seigyo."

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Waichei said, smiling like a maniac.

"It's been a while since I brought this out." Jakio told him. "I usually don't like to. It scares the ladies. But you've pissed me the hell off." He took his sword and shoved it into the ground. "My bankai not only has the ability to set fire to thin air, but also the ability to cause spontaneous combustion within whatever it pierces. In other words, look out below."

Waichei looked below him, and suddenly, the ground became very hot. "Uh-oh." He said, still keeping the smile on his face. He jumped up into the air and below him, several flaming geysers erupted from the floor. Then, before he knew it, Jakio was in the hair with him. He swung his massive sword and Waichei just barely ducked under it. Without any hesitation, he brought the sword over his head and swung down. Waichei just barely dodged that one too. "You that lug that thing around really fast, can't you?" He asked. Then, without warning, he punched Jakio straight in the side of the face. The Fire Wielder went flying.

_What is this?! That punch was much stronger than the last one!_ He regained his composure and swung his sword. A line of explosions, much stronger than the last ones, spread across the sky._ I can't keep doing this. He's getting too strong, and he's still not showing any sign of stopping. I need to figure out a better way to do this._ Then he laid eyes upon his last opponent, bloodied and unconscious on the ground.

He flew down there as fast as he could. He knew that man was following him from behind. He flew faster. He flew even faster than that. He made it to Sairyo. This was it. He picked up her body and put his sword to her body. "It's over. All it takes is one little cut and she burns alive."

Waichei stood still. "That's one hell of a dirty tactic. You're insulting the name of battle right now."

"Now that you can't do anything, you'll tell me where my targets are. Dominick, Dalton, or Martin. Any of them will work."

"Did you really think something like this would work?" Waichei asked. "All you've succeeded in doing is sucking the fun out of this battle."

"Sorry about it." Jakio muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'll rely on any underhanded tactics to repay my debt to Emi."


	25. An Invaluable Debt

_Chapter LXVII: An Invaluable Debt_

_What is this? It's so hot...who could have done this?_ The forest was entirely engulfed in flames. People were screaming. Tents were collapsed on the ground. Fear was everywhere. _Right, this is where I live. But it's burning...who did this? I feel...anger. I want...revenge._ A young boy with spiky red hair and devil horns stood in the middle of the burning forest.

Then, a form began to take shape in the flames. A devil stood before the boy. _Look, boy. Look at what happens when you don't learn how to use me properly._

_Who are you?_

_Your reiatsu is weak. You are not strong enough to handle the power of the devil._

"Wait!" The devil began to fade away.

"Hey, kid!" A taller, dark skinned woman stood behind him and slapped him on the back of the head. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Wha...who are you?" The boy asked.

"Emi Sasaoka." She answered. "Look, kid. You need to learn to control that zanpakuto of yours. It destroyed your entire village."

"What...should I do?"

Emi moved her hands quickly outwards horizontally, and let out a wave of energy in every direction, putting out the majority of the fire. "Come with me. I'm willing to teach you how to use that power of yours."

"Okay."

"Huh? That was a quick response." Emi replied. "What's your name, kid?"

"Jakio. Jakio Enju."

* * *

"Ah." Emi looked to her left. "Looks like Jakio used his bankai. I can't help but be proud of him. He was the first one that I found that also had a zanpakuto, and the only member of the Elemental Wielders that I met while still alive. He's like my little brother."

"He's fighting Waichei right now." Rari responded. "He's been fighting for a while. At this point, Waichei's already too strong for him. You see, the reason Waichei's so strong is truly because of his ability to crack skulls. Once that guy gets going, I've never seen him lose a fight."

"Well, you haven't seen Jakio's bankai, either. It really takes most of the power difference out of the equation. All he needs is one cut, and it's over for his for his opponent." Emi said. "Speaking of...it's already over for you. So why do you keep trying?"

Rari had several gashes and was bleeding all over the floor. "I have to protect Lisa. I have to protect her with my life."

"I don't want to kill either of you if I don't have to, but I must complete the mission for Liomara's sake." Something flashed through her eyes, then she shook her head.

Lisa, who was still on the ground, noticed. _Just now...she called Brother by his name. She's called him 'Darling' every other time...what is with her?_

Emi smiled again. She ran at Rari, and he shakily got into a defensive stance. He put his hands in front of his face to shield from her attacks, but she brushed them out of the way with one arm and hit him in the nose with her other fist. Rari groaned as he flew back and slid on the ground. Emi approached him again.

"Imprison her, Togosari Seigyo!"

Emi looked behind her. "What?!"

Lisa was there, holding a large chain with a blade on either end. "I'm not as defenseless as you think." She said. "I may have forgotten my zanpakuto in the house initially, but you should know better than anyone that Seigyo Zanpakuto usually have an easy time finding their owners. Yes. As the second wielder of Seigyo, that should be very clear to you."

"You have a Seigyo Zanpakuto as well?!" Emi exclaimed.

"That's right." She said. "And I will use it to protect the man you pledged to give his life for me."

"Lisa, wait…" Rari managed from the ground.

"Just lie there, Rari. You're in much worse shape than I am." She smiled at him. "Trust me, okay?"

He buried his head in the dirt. _God, I love her._

Emi started laughing. "How touching. But do you really think you can defeat me with a puny power level like that?"

"I may not have a great power level, but I do have something else that will help me in this fight." She said. A light blue aura began to shine around her.

Emi's eyes widened. _What is this...this pressure...it's reiatsu. Her reiatsu is insanely huge!_

Lisa held the Togosari Seigyo in both hands and she twirled each end in the opposite direction. Then she quickly lunged at Emi and the the right blade shot out forward. Emi immediately drew her sword and blocked the attack with an upward swing. Lisa spun the chain above her head and swung it down like a whip. Emi put her zanpakuto up to block it, but the chain wrapped around the blade. Lisa yanked the chain back and the Emi lost her zanpakuto.

When Lisa pulled the chain, her opponent's zanpakuto fell right into her hands. Rari watched in awe. _So this is it...the results of her nonstop training...she had always been so much more diligent than the rest of us about training, so I was wondering why she wasn't making much progress...but...she was training with her zanpakuto this entire time. Does number ten really fit her strength anymore? She's doing better than I was._

The sword's dark red aura spilled out and seeped up Lisa's arm upon the two making contact. She yelped and dropped the sword. Emi took that opportunity of shock and lunged at Lisa. Lisa jumped back, but Emi grabbed the chain in the middle and yanked it down, dragging the rest of her body with it. With her other hand, she sent an uppercut right into Lisa's nose.

Before she could start her next attack, both of them felt a power level disappear by Grand Kai's Place.

* * *

Waichei stood absolutely still. "This won't benefit you at all." He said. "If you kill her, I'll kill you right after."

"You'll kill me?" Jakio asked. "Look at who's the bloodiest out of the two of us. I don't think you can end this fight without getting a single scratch."

"Care to test that? Come at me now, and let's finish this fight like warriors."

"After you tell me where my targets are." Jakio protested.

"You're testing my patience, Jakio Enju." Waichei said with a large smile. "If you keep this up, I'll crack, and you'll be dead before you know it. But I don't want that to happen."

Jakio didn't respond. He only stood there with his zanpakuto pointed at Sairyo, waiting for Waichei to make any kind of movement. Before they knew it, minutes had already passed in silence. Then, Waichei's body twitched. Jakio's head perked up. Suddenly, the saiyan let out an ear piercing scream as his power level shot up. _What the hell is this?_ Jakio took on a more defensive stance now.

"ENOUGH!" Waichei screamed as a white aura surrounded him

_This could be my chance._ Jakio thought to himself. _Wait for it...his power's still going up...wait...almost...NOW!_ He dropped Sairyo to the floor and disappeared. Two explosions went off at the ground where he took off. He reappeared in that same instant in front of Waichei. He slowly exhaled as he dropped to his knees. "Haah...I got you, you fool." His sword had completely impaled Waichei's abdomen. "You should have known I would never actually attack that missy when she was unconscious."

Blood trickled down from the corners of Waichei's mouth as his eyes widened. "You...how did you move so fast? I couldn't even see you."

Jakio chuckled, which then turned into a cough. "I slashed both of my feet when I grabbed that missy...and when I lunged at you...I combusted them both to launch me exponentially faster." Waichei looked down, and Jakio's legs now ended right above the ankles. "Good thing...this battle is over...or else...I wouldn't have a way to fight you anymore."

"You fucker." Waichei smiled down at him. "You were really desperate to win, weren't you?"

"Kill him, Akumono Kasai Seigyo." Waichei's entire body suddenly burst into flames. Even Jakio had to shield his eyes.

Sairyo woke up from the heat saw Waichei burning alive. "WAICHEI!" She screamed. She got up and staggered over to Jakio.

"Stay back, missy." He told her. "I don't want you to die, too."

"Stop this now, Jakio! You don't have to go this far!"

"This was the only way to defeat him." He said, wincing in pain. "Look at my feet. There's no way I could continue this fight."

One couldn't even see Waichei's body through the flames anymore. Jakio was relentless. He'd kept these flames going for a full minute already, although it probably seemed like hours to Waichei.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sairyo yelled. "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO BURN HIM FOR?!"

"You're probably right, missy." He admitted. "There's no way someone could survive my combustion from the inside for this long." He removed his zanpakuto from Waichei's abdomen and the flames stopped, leaving a charred body behind. It seemed like it was frozen standing up. A puff of smoke escapes from Waichei's mouth. "I won't bother you anymore. I'll go look for them on my own."

Sairyo couldn't even argue. After seeing Waichei get burnt to a crisp, how could she? How could she fight someone like this?

Jakio started to walk away, but then he heard Sairyo's gasp behind him. He turned around and immediately felt a searing hot hand on his throat. Waichei's skin was severely burnt, but he still had a huge smile on his face. "How...How the fuck are you breathing right now?!" Jakio exclaimed.

"You see, this is what I love about battle." Waichei said. "In a way, it's like gambling. Both people have a certain amount of cards to play, and some cards are better than others. Each card has its own risks associated with playing it, and certain requirements that have to be met first. The greater the card is, the greater the risk, or the greater the criteria. Something like a normal punch has no risk, but no reward either. What you just pulled out was an 'all or nothing' card. If you pull it off, it's an instant win, but if you don't, you lose, and there's nothing you can do about it. That series of attacks was by no means an awful card. In fact, it was one of the best I've ever seen. I'm just blessed with an even better one: pure power. My power is limitless, but the criteria I need to use that card is time. When I start fighting, I'm weaker than shit, but I get infinitely stronger as it goes on. You played a real good hand, but it didn't work out for you. You risked too much, and now you're paying with your life. You were just too slow."

"You...you're completely insane…" Jakio muttered. "To think that there's really someone that can withstand the combustion of their own body…"

"I have to thank you, Jakio Enju. During this battle, when I was engulfed in flames...that was the first time that I truly felt alive." He put his other hand over Jakio's face and took the first one off of his throat. From within his palm came a white light that shone in between his hand and Jakio's face.

_Emi...I'm sorry. I couldn't win. Even after everything you did for me...everything you helped me with...I couldn't carry out your orders._ He dropped his zanpakuto on the ground and it crumbled into pieces. _I'm so sorry._

A huge energy blast shot out of Waichei's hand. It engulfed and incinerated all of Jakio's upper body and head. After the energy dissipated, only his legs and waist remained. They limply fell to the ground. Waichei turned around and smiled at Sairyo. She was completely speechless. "Are you okay?" He asked. She slowly nodded. He chuckled. "Good…" When he started walking over to her, a dizzy spell came over him. Before he knew it, his vision was black and he was on the ground.


	26. Over Before it Began

_Chapter LXVIII: Over Before it Began_

Hangyaku yawned in the forest. Soriyamo lied at his feet, unconscious. "To be honest...that was even easier than I expected." He muttered. "Man, it looks like half of my team got wiped out. Not only that, but Taoshin fucked up and killed Martin." He closed his eyes. "Hey, Rinjiko. I got him, so are you going to come pick him up, or what?" He paused for a little bit. "What? You want me to take him back myself? Yeah, fine. Let me just go talk to Liomara for a little bit, okay? I'll be there in a few." He picked up Soriyamo's body and hoisted it onto his shoulder. "What a pain. I'm definitely getting chewed out when I get there." Then he disappeared.

In the northern forest, Liomara stood with his eyes closed. He was very deep in. The last clear power level that he'd felt was Waichei's, and that was shortly before Jakio died. Three of the Elemental Wielder had been defeated, he realized. Emi was the only one that was winning, and Akeboru had just encountered Dominick. There was no telling how that battle would turn out. He figured it would either be Emi or himself that took care of Dominick. Martin had died. His sister was still alive. "I should find Dalton soon." Liomara muttered to himself. "This is boring, though. Maybe I should go back and get Dominick first."

"Nah, stick to looking for Dalton for now." Hangyaku said behind him. "Emi should have it covered down there."

"Hangyaku?!" Liomara jumped. "When the hell did you get here? And is that Soriyamo?"

"Yeah, it is." Hangyaku replied. "I told you to stay away from him because I wanted to get him myself."

"Why'd you bring him with you?"

"I'm taking him back.

"Back? To _that_ place?" Liomara asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh, right. Martin should be there, too, right? Isn't it fine that he died, then?"

"He's down there, but it's going to be a real pain in the ass to find him. That's why we wanted them to be alive." Hangyaku told him. "But we should be fine. The one that's _really_ important is Dominick. He's the one that Rinjiko and the others always talk about."

"Rinjiko?"

"Ah. Don't worry about it." Hangyaku siad. "Tell me when you're done, okay? I'll come get them."

"Alright, alright." Liomara watched as Hangyaku and Soriyamo disappeared.

* * *

Dominick and Akeboru stood alone outside, accompanied only by Shimoria's dead body. "Enryu's still alive?" Dominick asked.

"Did you hear otherwise?" Akeboru responded.

"No, it's just that when I visited the Angel Organization a couple of months ago, I felt a death that happened about 30 years ago, and I assumed that it was him, since that was when all of the events that my mom explained happened."

"You went to the Angel Organization?" Akeboru's eyes widened a little bit.

"Yeah, after I defeated Shihebi."

"What? You defeated Shihebi?" Akeboru's eyes widened further.

"You knew him?

"Of course. He was a rather famous prodigy child among the Angels. Enryu talked about him quite often. It was about...fifty years ago when we heard he'd disappeared? Enryu left the organization years before that. Rather, he was banished. Then they transferred his powers to me. Then, 30 years ago, he took my life. That death you felt...that was me." Akeboru explained.

"Did you know that Shihebi and Deis killed all of the others?"

"That doesn't surprise me." Akeboru looked around. "Do you feel it? Emi and I are the only Elemental duelists left. If I capture you, I'll probably get promoted. The more I climb the hierarchy of this organization, the more I'll find out about the secrets of this Omniverse, and I will find Enryu."

"Finding the secrets of the Omniverse sounds cool and all...but my first priority right now is finding my father." Dominick replied. "I'm not going to let you get in the way of that."

"Looks like we have contradicting goals, then."

"Yeah, I guess. It was the same against Shihebi, too. I hate when it happens, because your goals don't really affect me. I would have no problems with it if you took your revenge on Enryu." Dominick sighed. "What do you say? How about you not capture me, and then after I find my father, we can look for Enryu together? He is my grandfather after all."

"Not going to happen." Akeboru dismissed. "I'm not as nice as you, nor am I as heroic as I was in the past. I'd rather take the quickest route, even if it means crushing your goals while I'm at it."

"Fine. Let's fight, then. Whoever wins gets to continue pining for their goals." Dominick said.

"I concur." Akeboru lunged at Dominick with the wind at his back. He swung his sword horizontally at his opponent, but Dominick jumped back to avoid it. Although the blade wasn't even close to hitting him, a cut still opened up on his shirt. Dominick took his zanpakuto and slashed upward. Akeboru just barely avoided his chin getting sliced in two. Dominick's blade began to glow white, and the thick, light blue aura began to seep out of it. He ran at Akeboru and the two started attacking each other at incredible speed. With each swing, Dominick's blade grew brighter. Cuts also began to appear all over his body. He slashed upward and opened a huge gash in Akeboru's left bicep, and his left arm felt limply at his side. He moved back and the fight halted once again.

"I'm finally starting to figure out the range of your blades." Dominick said.

Akeboru winced as he used a part of his gi to wrap his arm up. "Damn you." He responded. "Even in shikai, I can hardly keep up with you."

"You seem calm." Dominick told him. "Aren't you angry that your friends have been killed?"

Akeboru chuckled at that. "Friends?" He asked. "I've never had such things as friends. Even when I viewed Enryu as my 'friend', look where that got me. He stabbed me in my fucking back."

"What are you talking about?" Dominick asked. "What does that have to do with the Elemental Duelists?"

"You see...when I joined the Elemental Duelists twenty years ago, it was already over for them. In fact, it had been over for nearly a decade already. I joined the Elemental Duelists to keep a closer eye on them for Hangyaku."

"So you mean…"

"Yeah, my true ally was Hangyaku from the start. Although, I'm really only using him to get myself closer to Enryu. But, he probably knew that from the start as well. I'm likely only a tool for him as well, but as long as it's mutually beneficial, I could care less."

Dominick knotted his eyebrows. "You're with Hangyaku?" He asked. "Where is he now?"

"I have no clue."

"Has he created anymore Black Sclerae after Hotokira?"

"Who's Hotokira?"

"Nevermind."

"I don't know why you're asking me all of these questions, thinking I'll answer them for you. You seem to forget that we're enemies." Akeboru scowled.

"You're right. And now that I know you're allied with Hangyaku directly, I'm more eager than ever to beat you."

"You're not eager to avenge your friend's death? He asked. "You asked me earlier why I wasn't angry over the deaths of the other Elemental Duelists. Well let me ask you, why aren't you angry over the death of Martin?"

"I don't believe he's dead." Dominick replied. "It's as simple as that. He wouldn't die that easily, so I'm going to trust that he's still alive."

"He had to die once to end up here, though." Akeboru said. "What makes you think he wouldn't die again?"

Dominick's blue aura around his zanpakuto strengthened. "Shut up."

Akeboru smirked and lunged at Dominick, however, his opponent was serious this time. He closed in on Dominick was incredible speed, then, right before he entered attacking range, he jumped up in the air. _"Tsukigakaze!"_ He shouted as he swung his zanpakuto through the air. Nothing happened at first, but then a giant crescent shaped rivet was made into the ground purely from high pressure wind. Dominick was knocked off the ground from the force. He tried to recover as quickly as possible, but Akeboru was already speeding toward him.

From on his knees, he channeled the light in his sword into the edge. _"Light Blanket!"_ He yelled. When he swung his zanpakuto, a giant sheet of white light was released from the blade. The same attack he used against Hotokira.

Akeboru's eyes widened. The attack was moving toward him at a frightening speed. _Shit!_ Instinctively, he put his sword in front of him to block the light. All of the tiny blades that made up his zanpakuto formed a straight line parallel with the _Light Blanket's_ path and drove down its center, effectively cutting it in two. That was the only downside of having such a thin attack. The two of them stood panting after that exchange. It had only lasted for a couple of seconds, but in that time, both of their lives had nearly ended. "Looks like I have to use it. I couldn't take another one of those attacks in shikai."

"What's your next move, Akeboru?" Dominick called. "Do you still think you can defeat me?"

"Bankai." He muttered. His entire sword literally disintegrated and blew away in the wind. That wind slowly began to grow stronger and stronger, until Dominick had to take a defensive stance just to stay planted on the ground. It wasn't in just one direction, either. The space between Dominick and Akeboru began to shorten. Was this a warpage of space? No, Dominick was simply being dragged in by the force of the wind. Then, from above them, a giant, shiny, silver tornado extended down from the sky, engulfing the both of them. Dominick had to put more and more energy into keeping from being blown around in the tornado. "Tatsuketsu Kaze Seigyo."

"Now this is interesting." Dominick said. "It's much different than Soriyamo's bankai."

"You don't understand the position you're in yet." Akeboru told him. "There's no escape for you. This entire tornado is my bankai."

"So if I defeat you in here, then I'll be free, right?" He asked.

"One more thing. I'm sure you noticed that I could manipulate each of microscopic blades that made up my shikai. That was how I parried your last attack. Well, nothing has changed." What looked like a glob of dust from the tornado split off and ran right into Dominick. Several cuts opened up on the point of impact.

"Well, that's a problem." Dominick muttered. He didn't seem worried. "Looks like I need to defeat you as soon as possible."

"You're getting cocky." Akeboru stated.

Dominick chuckled. "My bad. It's just that...I've been training my mind a lot as well over these last three weeks...so even if you're stronger than me, I know I will beat you. Because I have to beat you. That's all there is to it."

* * *

Beings of black flame surrounded Lisa as she struggled to catch her breath. She fell to her knees.

"Quit trying." Emi commanded. "I don't want to have to do that again."

Rari lied on his stomach, glaring at her. _What the hell kind of attack was that? The same thing happened to me. As soon as you touch those black flames, your strength just disappears, and all you feel is pain._

"Why...do you keep doing this...to yourself?" Lisa managed. "I know...this isn't you...Emi."

"Shut the hell up." Emi snapped. "Maybe I should kill you here."

"Please, Emi. Just find yourself...and stop this madness. It'll only...cause you pain…" Lisa fell to the ground, unconscious. Her zanpakuto reverted to its normal state.

Emi let out a long exhale as the black flames returned into the ground from where they came. She sheathed her zanpakuto and the dark red aura stopped oozing. There was a hint of sadness as she slowly backed away from the two of them.

"Wait…" Rari crawled toward her. "Where...do you think...you're going..?"

She looked back at him. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Don't think...you can just...leave...like this." He clawed at the ground. "You hurt...Lisa. You have...to pay...for that."

"Rari, just stop already." She pleaded. "I...I have to get back to Liomara. I...I have to…" She turned around and ran away. _I don't know what's going on anymore._ She thought to herself. _Shimoria's dead. Taoshin's dead. Jakio's dead. I didn't want this to happen. I want to stop this. I want to stop him._


	27. Reborn as the Phoenix

_Chapter LXIX: Reborn as the Phoenix_

"What the hell...is that?!" Kaoren exclaimed. He, Nyoriyo, Yosuhiro, and Shirako were watching Dominick and Akeboru fight from inside the house.

"That is, without a doubt, a bankai." Shirako said.

"He has the same type of sword as you, right, Shirako? Nyoriyo asked. "Do you have a bankai as well?"

Shirako chuckled. "Me? I'm just the healer. Why would I have a bankai?"

"Don't try to fool us. You definitely have one." Kaoren said.

"This is quite a powerful bankai as well." Shirako muttered.

Dominick was being thrashed around by the wind and the blade together, while Akeboru was standing still, completely unharmed. Dominick swung his sword down at his opponent, but a stream of blades encompassed his hand on its way down. He yelled out in pain as his sword fell from his hand. Trying not to think about it, he used his other hand to punch Akeboru in the chin. The Wind Wielder was knocked back, and Dominick tried to look for his sword in the midst of the tornado, but he saw no sign of it._ Damn it!_ He was suddenly struck in the back by more blades. _What am I going to do? This is actually really bad._

_Are you going to lose?_

_That voice!_ Dominick thought. Y_ou're...my zanpakuto!_

_You only rely on me when you need me. So do you need me now?_

_What...are you talking about?_

_You forget...that I was broken only three weeks ago. Did you not notice when I was healed? You drew me out of instinct because you needed me. It didn't even cross your mind that I had to rush my recovery to make it in time for this fight._

_You...are slowly becoming more clear to me._

_I am your comrade, Dominick._ The zanpakuto said.

_You are my comrade. You've protected me all this time. But I never protected you._ In his head, he saw a man standing in a world of nothing but white. The man was white ragged clothes. He had white hair as well. Everything about him was white except for his skin and his eyes, which were blue. His hair fell all the way down his face, just barely showing his eyes. In the back, it fell down to his lower back.

_You've finally realized it yourself._ The man started to fade away.

_Wait!_ Dominick yelled in his mind. _I still haven't gotten your name!_ It was too late. The man was gone.

When he snapped back into reality, his sword was blindingly bright. He realized that he'd completely blinded Akeboru. For some reason, he could see perfectly. He swung down and sliced into Akeboru's shoulder, causing him to yell out in pain. Dominick's eyes widened. _Of course. This is my zanpakuto helping me win. Wait. My sword is in my hand. Didn't it fall earlier? That's right. It's not a sword. It's a living soul, and we fight together as one._ It shined even brighter.

"I'm ending this now, Akeboru!" He yelled. _"Light Blanket!"_ This was the first time he'd ever used that attack twice in such quick succession. It took a lot out of him to bring the light out, but it came out nonetheless.

"NO, I'M ENDING THIS!" Akeboru bellowed. Suddenly, he was gone from the tornado. Dominick's attack hit nothing. Every single blade in the tornado crashed in on him. He felt his blade shatter in his hand.

_What happened?_ He was on the floor. _What happened?_ It was painful. He saw his hand out in front of him. It was red. It was just red. _What happened?_

* * *

"Liomara...Liomara...where are you?" Emi was running through the northern forest alone. She felt like she'd been wandering for hours. A nauseous feeling in her gut began weighing her down even more. She wanted to throw up. Where was he? Why was this happening? "Liomara, why is everyone dying?"

"Emi, you alright?" A voice said from behind her.

She turned around. "Liomara…"

"You aren't calling me Darling anymore." He said with a strange smile. "Is something wrong?"

She began sweating nervously as she backed up. "Uhh, no I-"

"You didn't forget who I am, did you?" He slowly approached her as she backed up further.

"Liomara, wait-" Her back pressed against a tree.

"Or did you forget who _you're_ supposed to be?" He asked. Absolute fear shot up her spine. She was petrified. "Don't worry, I'll help you out. I'm your lover after all. That's what we do, right?" She couldn't bring herself to open her mouth. Liomara drew a sword from the back of his belt slowly. The blade looked normal enough, but the hilt was unnaturally long, and the guard was a rectangle with four short rods in the middle of each edge, all with a small sphere on the end. "Just relax, and my zanpakuto will do it's magic."

Her breathing sped up. "No, stop it...please I don't want-"

"Unveil…"

* * *

Akeboru slowly descended to the ground. The blades that made up the tornado now resembled the head and wings of a phoenix behind him. "This form is called _Tatsuketsu Hanjiru Touou._ It signifies that Kaze Seigyo realized I was going to lose, and that it wasn't going to allow that. It in effect self-destructed, and was reborn into this form you see now. Much like a phoenix." Dominick laid motionless on the ground. His entire body was basically covered in blood. "You should be honored." Akeboru added. "The fact that this form stands before you means that you were able to truly overpower me. However, unfortunately for you, I am basically invincible. Even if that implosion doesn't kill my opponent, this form is even stronger.

Dominick kept looking at the redness of his hand. Soon, blood dripped down from his forehead and got in his eyes. His vision became more and more red, until all he saw was the color red.

"Hey, I just thought of a great idea." Akeboru said, kneeling down by Dominick's face. "Why don't I go pay your mother a visit and see if she knows where Enryu is?"

The red almost seemed to grow stronger, angrier. Red was the color of rage. _I won't let this bastard lay a finger on my mom. If he touches her, I'll kill him. I'll rip him to shreds. Destroy. Destroy everything._ He knew his consciousness was fading, and there was some familiarity to that feeling. The same feeling as…

Akeboru immediately jumped back as Dominick's power spiked. "What's happening now?" He muttered.

"I'll...kill you." Dominick stood on his feet.

"What?" Akeboru took another step back.

Dominick's pupils turned a deep shade of red. He let out a blood curdling scream as he lunged at Akeboru. A black version of his zanpakuto materialized in his hand. Akeboru frantically used his _Tatsuketsu Hanjiru Touou_ as a counterattack. The phoenix behind him opened its mouth and a huge blade shot out of it at Dominick. With his black sword, he easily parried it and knocked it to the floor. Its wings flapped and thousands of tiny blades spread thinly throughout the air and were blown with incredible force at Dominick. With another scream, the saiyan released a massive amount of energy from his body, blowing back all of the blades in every direction. Some of them flew back and hit Akeboru.

"What the hell is this power?!" He exclaimed. "You were as good as dead!"

Dominick smiled. "You fool. You call those fatal wounds? I may have lost a bunch of blood, but these are all shallow cuts. I feel absolutely no pain right now."

Akeboru lifted an eyebrow. _His manner of speaking has changed. It's like he's not even the same person anymore._

Dominick put a palm over one eye, then violently shook his head. "I won't let you...lay a finger...on my mother!" He lunged at his opponent again. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Akeboru's phoenix attacked again. It struck down with one wing, attempting to punch a hole in the ground, but Dominick's blade reached it first. The wing was severed before Akeboru could even react. _Shit! Shit!_ Akeboru clenched his teeth. Dominick other fist came up and cracked his jaw. The phoenix's other wing reached around and stabbed Dominick in the back. The tip of the wing poked out the front of his abdomen. He coughed up blood onto the floor.

"I won't die from something like this! I can't die!" He screamed.

_His power level just keeps rising...how the hell was I ever supposed to defeat this?_

The area around Dominick's sword seemed to lose its light, like it was being sucked in. The blade grew bigger. The phoenix's mouth opened again, and what looked like a giant pillar of blades came shooting out toward him. He gave a battle cry as he swung his sword horizontally. The pillar of blades was sliced long-ways in half. The slash also cut through the necks of the phoenix and Akeboru.

_What a damn monster. I was foolish to think I could beat someone that Hangyaku so desperately wanted to get his hands on. _He smiled bitterly._ Just you wait, Enryu. I'm not done yet. I've been all around the omniverse searching for you, but there's one place I haven't touched. That's where I'm headed now. I'll find you. I know you're out there. Even if it takes an eternity, I'll find you. Because no matter what...everyone ends up...there...at the bottom of everything. Akeboru's head fell to the floor, soo followed by the rest of his body._

Suddenly, the barriers around the house and around Grand Kai's place disappeared. Dominick's eyes turned back to their normal blue color, the black sword dissolved and then he fell to the floor. Kaoren, Nyoriyo, Shirako, and Yosuhiro all ran out to help him.

Once they brought him into the house, Shirako started healing him immediately. He was in serious condition. He had a hole opened in his stomach, and although his other wounds were not deep, they were great in number and he had lost a lot of blood. Shirako was putting more effort than ever into healing him. _He's exhausted so much of his energy. It's a miracle that he's even still alive._ Shirako thought. _There was a real possibility of him achieving Super Saiyan 6 right then and there._

Nyoriyo busted through the backdoor with Yosuhiro following behind him. Each was carried a wounded person on his back. "Shirako!" He frantically yelled. "Can you help Rari and Lisa as well?" They laid the two of them on the ground next to him.

"What is this?" Shirako murmured. "They aren't wounded very severely, but their energies are extremely low and unstable...what in the world could have happened?"

"I don't know." Nyoriyo said. "There was this weird aura around them when I found them. It seemed like remnants of something. It was dark red, and looked like blood, but it definitely wasn't a liquid."

"It was like they were poisoned." Yosuhiro stated.

"Where is Sairyo? Shirako muttered to himself. "I could really use her help right now."

Just after that, Kaoren came through the front door. "I didn't find any signs of Martin." He said. "And no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't sense his power level anywhere nearby. The only possible explanation is that he ran far away and is suppressing his power level to almost nothing, or that he's dead."

"No remnants of his opponent, either?" Shirako asked.

"No." Kaoren answered. "I think his opponent blew himself up, taking Martin with him."

"This is much more serious than I thought." Shirako said. "I can't even feel Soriyamo's power, either. We had fourteen people to start. I can feel Kashito and Kujako, they're alive...and all of us here...we're missing five people. Who knows where they are? They could be dead."

"Don't...count me out...yet." Sairyo came through the locker room door, carrying Waichei on her back. That was an amazing feat for someone of her size. One of her legs was broken, too. She'd tied it in a splint. She carried Waichei all the way back from Grand Kai's place with severe injuries. "Shirako...please heal...Waichei."

Shirako's eyes widened. "Sairyo. I'm glad you're alive, but...do you have any idea what you're asking me to do? There's no way I can heal that monster."

"Shirako, please...he saved my life." She pleaded. "He won't survive like this for long. He suffered combustion from the inside out...if it weren't for his ability to withstand so many attacks...he would have instantly been killed."

Shirako glared at the burnt body that Sairyo was carrying. _That thing is still alive? In that shape?_

"Please...if he dies...I'll never be able to thank him."

Shirako sighed. "Fine. But I'll have to get you healed up first. I can't handle all of these people on my own." Sairyo gave a weak smile, but a genuine one. It was one of the first genuine smile Shirako had ever seen on her face.


	28. Hope in Hopelessness

_Chapter LXX: Hope in Hopelessness_

Dominick woke with a start. His wounds were healed. As he sat up on the wooden bench he'd been laid on, he felt a deep pain in his stomach. _That's right._ He remembered. _I got stabbed. It looks like Shirako healed my flesh wounds, but my internal organs are still pretty messed up._ He then felt a familiar material lying by his waist. It was the hilt of his zanpakuto. It must have not been very long since he'd lost consciousness. His zanpakuto was not recovered yet. He'd found that it usually recovered fairly quickly.

He, Rari, and Lisa were the only ones that were in the locker room. They were still unconscious. Everyone else was in the main room. He slowly walked over to the entrance to the main room, but stopped. Inside was Shirako and Sairyo who were both desperately trying to heal Waichei. His body was in terrible shape. It looked like he'd been burned alive.

Something about his zanpakuto felt different. It wasn't the fact that his blade was gone, as it had been broken multiple times before. For some reason, it felt stronger. It felt closer to him than ever before.

He made sure no one in the main room saw him, and he made his way slowly into the underground training room. Just flying down to the bottom forced him to strain himself. That wound in his stomach was worse than he thought.

_Are you scared?_ A voice asked him.

_I'm not afraid._ Dominick replied in his mind. _I can feel you. You're stronger than ever._

_And?_

_I'm confident that, as one, we can defeat any opponent._

The hilt of his sword began to glow insanely bright to the point where he had to cover his eyes. A power that he'd never felt before, yet felt so familiar, began welling up inside of him. Reiatsu. _You should be able to hear my name by now._ His zanpakuto told him.

"Yeah, I can hear you." Dominick muttered. "Loud and clear." The blade began to regenerate from the guard to the tip as the light got brighter and brighter. "Hikari Seigyo."

The blade turned completely white and split into two. The guard disappeared entirely. The hilts became polished wood, wrapped in a white cloth that draped down about a half a meter. The blades shone white instead of a normal silver, and were both about two thirds the length of a normal zanpakuto. They felt completely weightless, aside from the hilts. A certain warmth grew inside him. He felt at home. More at home than he'd felt in a long, long time. The last time he felt like this was before the fire. That was when he was at his old house.

But...he was there now. When he closed his eyes, he found himself in the white space that he was so used to, but it suddenly started to peel away, revealing his childhood backyard. The backyard he hadn't stepped foot in since he was five years old. The backyard where his father was killed. "Why...am I here?"

"This place is your true consciousness." Hikari Seigyo said. He was standing behind him. "This is the place that holds the most significant memory to you."

"But...that was something I don't want to remember."

"Regardless…" He paused, then looked around. "It seems as though we cannot talk here any longer. You have a guest." Just then, the backyard suddenly faded back into the barren desert that was the underground training room.

"Who are you?" Dominick asked.

"This is a pretty big room you've got hidden here." Emi stood in front of him. Her face showed nothing of the events that had just taken place between her and Liomara. "I've come to fulfill my duties...and bring you back to my darling, alive."

* * *

Liomara smiled once he was alone in the forest again. He had realized that the other four had been killed, and that meant the barriers were down. But he didn't care. He was satisfied with himself. He was satisfied that even after all of this, Emi still followed him blindly. He didn't want to feel like this, but he had no choice. So, he stopped caring. "Let's go find Dalton." He told himself.

The wind blew lightly through the trees above his head. He didn't feel Kashito, but he felt another power level coming for him. Who was it? It couldn't be anyone that he wasn't allowed to take on, but this wasn't a power level he'd felt before. He'd still recognized his Saiyan friends, but this felt completely unfamiliar. It got him excited.

It got closer. He could no longer hold himself back. His smile grew from ear to ear. This one was strong. Then, the person appeared through the trees. The orange hair stood out first, then it was the purple headband. "What is this?" Liomara asked. "I have to fight you?"

"Are you the one responsible for all of this?" Kujako demanded.

"I'm pretty sure." He responded.

"Then I'm going to kill you."

"That sucks." Liomara complained. "You've got a pretty nice look going there. I guess the headband is a little out of style."

Kujako's veins bulged in his forehead. "My headband looks sick. Don't lie to yourself. I was going to compliment your sunglasses, but now I'm just pissed."

"Oh well." Liomara shrugged. "Anyway, looks like you're hiding quite a bit of power. Let me see it."

"I was going to show you even if you didn't ask." Kujako's orange hair turned golden, and his eyes turned an aqua green color. Red fur emerged on his arms as well as his tail. "What do you think of this? I'm a lot stronger than the other guys, right?"

"Super Saiyan 5, huh?" Liomara mumbled. He was clearly unimpressed. "You must be new to that group, since we don't know each other."

"Group? You mean Soriyamo's group?" Kujako asked. "I'm not with them. I train under Kashito alone."

"Is that so? Then, let me introduce myself." The man in sunglasses smiled. "You see, Soriyamo wasn't always the leader of that group. Before that, another man, who was much stronger, was in charge. He was knocked out of the number one spot when Soriyamo discovered Super Saiyan 6." He pointed a thumb at himself. "That man's name was Liomara Tsubasuke."

"I see. What you're saying is that I should take you seriously." The man in the headband suddenly wore a serious face. "My name is Kujako."

Liomara's face lit up. "Kujako...you used to be pretty famous. I remember Shinrou talking about how his baby cousin had found a remarkable fighter...or should I say, fighters?"

"There's no point in hiding it, I guess."

"That's right." Liomara said. "I've known about you for a while. Triplets: Kudake, Sojaru, and Jiruko, all fused to become one being, Kujako. That explains your above average strength."

"Liomara...I've know that name as well." Kujako said. "Shinrou, the first Naga, often came around before he disappeared. He spoke very highly of you. Kashito looked up to you quite a bit, too. And the thing is, there were casualties caused by the explosion at Grand Kai's place. As Naga, how do you think they would react to what you've done? And how badly do think Kashito would scold me if I didn't stop you here?"

Liomara chuckled to himself a little bit. "You? Defeat me?" He asked. "I don't think you quite know what you're dealing with. It's true that I probably couldn't defeat Kashito as I am now, but I'll repeat that I used to be the leader of the group Soriyamo leads. Did you think I would idly sit around for twenty years after I left?" He transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. Despite his hair turning golden and an immense amount of power flowing outward from him, his sunglasses and hat stayed put.

Kujako's eyes widened and he took a step back. _What incredible power..! Is this the difference in experience?_ Kujako was young. Not in amount of years lived, but in maturity, and number of battles. Sure, he was strong compared to Rari, Dominick, Dalton, Martin, and many of the others, but it was possible to compare them to himself. But guys like these...Soriyamo, Kashito, Shirako, Shinrou, and even Kasae...it was as if they existed on an entirely different dimension. They just _seemed_ older than the rest. They seemed larger than the rest. When Kaoren called them beasts during the tournament, this was probably what he'd meant. And here Kujako was, a little fletchling, experiencing firsthand the bloodlust of one of these beasts. He couldn't deny his fear. He knew Kashito was stronger, so that gave him a slight amount of hope. But what about Soriyamo? He was next in line for comparison. How did this man's power compare to Soriyamo's?

As if Liomara was reading his mind, he suddenly said, "by the way, if you were to compare my power to the current leader's power, I would have a _slight_ edge of about 300%." He laughed.

Kujako scrunched his eyebrows. _Three times? Three times as strong as Soriyamo?_

"Are you ready to start now?" Liomara sneered. "Or are you going to piss your pants?"

* * *

Dominick knew this woman was the one that had decimated both Rari and Lisa by herself. He knew there was probably no way he could defeat her in a fight. But for some reason, he wasn't afraid. He knew he would come out of this alive.

That was because of her eyes. They were the same. They were familiar. He knew she was dealing with an intense internal struggle right now. He knew because her eyes were the same as Dalton's were back then.

"Will you tell me your name?" Dominick asked.

"Interested in knowing the name of your captor?" She smiled. "I'll tell you, then. I am Emi Sasaoka, the Wielder of the Dead."

"I take it you're the leader of the other guys, then. Akeboru mentioned something about the Elemental Duelists, and you're much stronger than he was."

"Were you the one who took him out? He may have been our newest member, but he certainly had some valuable techniques."

"Don't mourn over him too much. He was only using you for his own gain."

"None of that matters anymore." Emi shook her head. "I must capture you and bring you back to Darling."

"You're right that none of that matters." Dominick told her. "But listen to me. I don't want to fight you. We don't have to fight. You're being controlled. I know it. I've experienced it firsthand. I know this isn't you, Emi. Your darling isn't himself right now, whoever he is."

"What the hell are you talking about? I would never obey anyone except Darling." He refuted.

"Emi, listen. I really don't want to fight you."

"Of course you don't." She smiled. "Who would want to fight someone they're certainly going to lose to?"

"You have to fight back." Dominick urged. "Think of why you call your darling like you do. Think of why he's your darling. Is he really someone that would follow Hangyaku so blindly? Would you fall in love with someone like that?"

Emi's eyes flashed back to a healthy shade of brown. For a second, terror flashed across her face. Terror at herself. Terror at Liomara. Then, she laid eyes on Dominick and smiled. That smile gave Dominick hope. It was a warm, genuine smile, but it also held immense sadness. She began crying. "Dominick...I never thought I would get to see you in the flesh…" She clutched at her heart. "Your father would be so proud."

"My father?" Dominick asked. "You knew him?"

Her eyes suddenly flashed back to emptiness. Her face turned from sadness to rage. "You swine!" She yelled. "How dare you try to turn me against my Darling!"

Dominick's face turned serious. He was close. He almost set her free. But the power of a Black Sclera was not to be trifled with. _Damn that Hangyaku. There's another Black Sclera now._ But who is it? "Emi, stop!" He pleaded. "We don't have time for this! While we're wasting time here, Hangyaku could be implanting more of his creations in other people!" Dominick's eyes widened at his own words. _Did I not think of this before? Since when was it only me that had a Black Sclera? Since when did I place an arbitrary limit on the amount he could create? He's sneaky. He could implant one in anybody._

"I couldn't care less what Hangyaku does. Just so long as my darling and I are together in the end." She scowled. "But you've gone and insulted both of us, and the love we share. That is an unforgivable offense!" She drew her sword.

"Wait, Emi!" Dominick shouted.

"BANKAI!"


	29. Realizing the Past

_Chapter LXXI: Realizing the Past_

Martin woke up. It was dark, and he didn't know where he was. His head hurt a lot. When he tried to move, his entire body hurt as well. His eyes were still adjusting, so it was hard for him to see, but he thought he saw trees all around him. It was still dark.

"You certainly woke up faster than I thought you would." A voice said.

"Who are you?" He asked. "And where am I?"

"Did no one teach you proper manners?" The man smiled. Martin turned around. He could only just make out a purplish color on the man's hair. "You should introduce yourself to your elders first."

"What are you talking about?" Martin questioned. "You can't be that much older than I am."

"I guess it doesn't matter that much." The man replied. "I already know who you are, Martin Lozano."

Martin scowled and moved into a defensive position. "How the hell do you know my name?"

"You see, I'm the informant. I've been assigned to observe the three of you." When Martin didn't respond, a little light bulb clicked on in his head. "Oh, how rude of me! You still don't know my name. I am Meiryu Rievere, but I prefer to be called Mr. Rievere."

"You think I care what you want to be called?" Martin growled. "And you still haven't told me where I am."

"Quite hostile, are we?" Mr. Rievere said calmly. "As the man that saved your life, that is rather hurtful."

Martin's eyes widened. "You saved me?"

"How else would you have escaped that explosion alive?"

"Why? What do you want with me?" Martin demanded.

Mr. Rievere approached him, infringing on his personal space. "To be honest, I'm acting of my own free will right now." He quietly explained with a smile. "I'm sure the higher-ups know of what I'm doing, but they haven't given me orders to back down."

"That tells me nothing."

"If you want me to get straight to the point, I will." Mr. Rievere told him. "I want to train you. You have so much untapped power. I'm sure you've felt something at this point. You've made some massive strides in just the past few hours."

Martin hesitated. "What...do you mean by 'felt something'?"

"You know...like something opened inside of you. Like the power you were using fell into a bottomless pit below." Mr. Rievere reached out to him after he didn't answer. "Looks like I hit the mark."

Martin jumped back and got into a fighting stance when Mr. Rievere approached him. "Don't get any closer!" He shouted. "I still don't trust you at all."

"You should calm down, child." Mr. Rievere softly commanded. "You sure don't know who you're dealing with."

"_You_ don't know who you're dealing with!" Martin scowled.

Mr. Rievere sighed. "How difficult. Then, let me ask you, how much of that bottomless pit got filled up with energy? A couple drops? I was watching your fight with Taoshin Genreikai, and I can tell you that you filled up less than one percent of that well. I, on the other hand, can have filled up that well entirely with energy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you understand?" The informant sneered. "Everyone here...everyone on this entire planet...Kashito, Liomara, Hangyaku...even Soriyamo as he is now...I could kill them all. With one single strike, I could kill them all. Do you think the words 'Super Saiyan 6' mean anything to me? Believe me, that is nothing. I'm sure you've heard of how powerful the Makara Warriors were. I lived to see the rise of the Saiyans not too long after the war. I even did some research on them, as an informant. They were a very special race to the Father of the Dark, to say the least. Listen closely. Only the very strongest of the first Saiyans could hold their own against me."

"What does that tell me?"

"You were at Capsule Corp for a while, right?" Mr. Rievere asked. "So it should make sense if I tell you in numbers. Say, hypothetically, 300,000 people of Soriyamo's strength pooled their strength together into one warrior. I know 300,000 is a pretty large number to comprehend, but that equates to about 3,500,000 warriors of your strength. This warrior, 3.5 million times stronger than you are right now, still wouldn't be enough to defeat the average Saiyan in their primitive days."

No matter how good with numbers Martin was, no matter how wide his comprehension could stretch, he couldn't fathom it. Someone with over three million times his own strength, just by being around that sort of power, he would probably never be the same again. It was possible that the pure energy from such a being could physically crush his body.

"And remember, I was stronger than a vast majority of the first Saiyans." Mr. Rievere explained. "So I probably hold closer to four million times your strength. The only reason I'm still alive today is because I'm really good at hiding it. Right now, you can barely feel anything from me, right? I'm consciously hiding virtually all of my power. If I were to slip, even for just a split second, and, say, release one percent of my power, you would be on the floor right now."

Martin gritted his teeth. "I find that hard to believe."

"Well, then, why don't I show you?"

Before he knew it, he was already on the floor. He didn't feel anything. It was too quick. Mr. Rievere didn't even move. He really had just used energy. On top of that, he used the same technique that Shirako had used in the tournament. It was the same technique that made Martin want to train under Shirako in the first place. But this...Mr. Rievere had released enough energy to crush him, but only for an instant. Even if he had only released one percent of his power, that still equated to 40,000 times Martin's full strength. Once he realized there was no pressure anymore, he got up. "That was insane." He mumbled with a groan.

"Of course." Mr. Rievere smiled. "I am in the top ten strongest people in existence right now, after all."

"Are you...implying that there are people stronger than you?"

"But of course. Why would the strongest person be an informant?"

"Who?" Martin asked.

"Well, the Father of the Dark, of course. He's the leader of us all. And his right hand man, the 'Bottomless Mind'. Both of them are on an entirely different level than even myself. There are others I know of as well. One from this Universe, in particular. If you know history at all, you'd know that this man was the strongest to ever live in Universe 7. Kyono Yogan of the Volcano. The Makara Warriors went extinct after the Second Omniversal War, but his body, and the body of Shinobu Buvois from Universe 1, were never found. They both are speculated to be alive. It would make sense, since all of the people I've named aside from the Father of the Dark, who caused the Great Power Extinction, never actually mastered any Powers. Regardless, Kyono, Shinobu, and the Bottomless Mind are all stronger than I could ever hope to be."

"There are more people...like this...in the Omniverse?" Martin stammered. "What...have we been doing this whole time?"

"There's no need to feel bad. In 50,000 years of peace, it's easy to get complacent and devolve." Mr. Rievere told him. "But, the Father of the Dark is beginning to grow impatient. You can tell, can't you? With Hangyaku's repeated attacks, and myself being at liberty to interact with you guys freely, the complacency will come to an end soon. The three of you are getting stronger at an alarming rate, and Super Saiyan 6 is a relatively recent discovery. It is possible that, within your lifetime, the original power of the Saiyans will be realized once more."

"Original...power?"

"What do you say?" The informant asked him. "Will you let me bring this power out of you?"

* * *

Kashito was still at Grand Kai's place after Kujako left. He was helping tend to the wounded while others carried the dead outside. It wasn't a complete catastrophe. Only six or seven people were killed, but in Kashito's eyes that was very serious. After all, when people die in Otherworld, their sent to _that_ place. And _that_ place is not a place where anyone wants to end up.

Before he knew it, he was alone in the palace except for Grand Kai himself. The Grand Kai hadn't said much since the explosion. He'd really just been glued to his seat the whole time. It was as if he couldn't move. Maybe it was trauma, but his face was rather expressionless. It was like he was a statue.

In fact, he didn't even react when another man appear in the main hall. "This is what you've been reduced to, Kashito? Doing the work that your cousin couldn't?"

Kashito turned around. When he saw who it was, he smiled. The man's face looked younger than Kashito's but there was certainly an aura that he gave off which made him seem much older. He had a wide chin, but also had a thin nose. He had long white eyelashes that matched his long snow white hair that fell down in waves to the middle of his back. "Rinjiko. It's been a while."

"You still have that old habit of calling me by my first name, no matter how many times I told you to stop. Call me Akamusa."

"Are you responsible for this?" Kashito asked.

"Not directly." Akamusa responded. "I gave Hangyaku the freedom to act on his own. He has his own underlings, now. Speaking of that, I hear you have a pupil of your own?"

"I do." Kashito said. "I wish you could have met him, but it seems that he left in a hurry to go see Liomara."

"I feel like a grandparent. All of my old pupils have their own students now." Akamusa laughed. "That should make me feel proud, right? I've climbed to the third highest official rank under the Father of the Dark, and have successfully trained two fighters." Suddenly, he was right in front of Kashito. "So tell me why I feel nothing but anger. Oh, that's right. One of my students is incapable of following my orders, and the other one betrayed me to come live on this dump."

"My betrayal was justified." Kashito retorted. "I can't say the same about your actions over the years."

"You thought working under your cousin would be better worth your time? Well, look where that got the lot of you."

"Shinrou and Jason are missing, I know that." Kashito said. "And you somehow turned Liomara to your side."

"Shinrou is dead." Akamusa told him. "That is the reason I let Hangyaku act on his own. He is the one that took the life of the first Naga."

There wasn't much change in Kashito's face after hearing that. "Why have you come here, Rinjiko?"

"I told you, call me Akamusa."

Still smiling, Kashito closed his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for your games." Power began flowing out of him. When he opened his eyes again, they were an icy light blue color. It was like the liveliness from before had been frozen, and all that was left was hostility. However, the smile still remained. "I haven't just been sitting around since I left your side all those years ago. I surpassed Shinrou in strength long before he disappeared."

"Oh?" Akamusa scoffed. "And did you think surpassing your cousin, who was defeated by my pupil, would make you stronger than me? I'll be honest with you. I've never fully trusted anyone in my entire life. Not even you, who I spent nearly a century training. No one has ever seen my full power and lived. When I show my full power to someone, it is to kill them. If I don't have the ability to kill them, I make them my ally. But I never trust them."

"That sounds lonely." Kashito said. "You must not have many friends."

"Oh, but that's not true." Akamusa smiled. "I've been gathering many formidable allies ever since you left. I now have twelve fighters under my command. I came here hoping that we could rekindle the fire we used to have. You could be my second in command."

"You came just to tease me, didn't you?" Kashito asked. That smile still didn't fade.

Akamusa was taken aback, as if he was hurt by the accusation. Then his eyes narrowed. His eyelashes almost blocked out his irises from view. "Of course I did. Of course I knew you wouldn't want to come back. I just didn't want you to forget about me. After all, you can never escape from your past." More and more power leaked out from Kashito's body as Akamusa began to laugh. The iciness from the Naga's eyes turned the room cold. An attack would come at any second, from either one of them.

However, just before the tension reached its climax, Akamusa was gone as quickly as he'd arrived.


	30. What He Couldn't Save Before

_Chapter LXXII: What He Couldn't Save Before_

Kujako stood his ground as Liomara lunged at him. The difference in their power wasn't as great as he'd thought. Maybe he had a chance. Liomara's attacks were crazed.

Kujako blocked a punch sent at his face with his forearm. He thought he felt his entire arm vibrate from the force. But he still blocked it. That gave him satisfaction. He started a counterattack. With his other arm, he returned the punch that he had received. It was blocked, but he didn't stop. He flipped around and sent a back hook kick at Liomara's neck. The attack hit, but not where it was intended to hit. Instead, the back of his foot crashed into a tree, knocking it down. Liomara was in the air, in the middle of a backflip. Kujako clicked his tongue, but did not stop. He launched himself at his opponent and both of their limbs turned completely into blurs. Tree after tree fell from the force of their attacks. Their pace and strength was over twice as great as when Shirako and Soriyamo fought in the tournament. This was a battle between the two Saiyans with the highest base strength, aside from Waichei, since no one knew what he was actually capable of.

"Let's take it up a notch!" Liomara shouted.

Kujako nodded in agreement, but that was only a bluff. He'd already been fighting at full strength the whole time. _Just what is this guy's limit?_

Liomara drew his long hilted sword. He held it with his right hand just under the guard, and his left hand about six centimeters below it, just above the base of the hilt.

"That's not like any of the other swords I've seen." Kujako said. "Is that a zanpakuto as well?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Liomara replied. "You're going to die either way."

Kujako scowled. "I can't lose to someone like you...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself I you lived to kill more people!"

"Oh, scary, scary." Liomara chuckled. "I don't usually like people with an overly strong sense of morals like you."

"Bummer."

"Right? I was hoping we could be friends."

"Friends?" Kujako asked, dumbfounded. "You thought we could be friends?!"

"Why not?" Liomara replied. "After all, aside from capturing the three targets, this is all fun and games."

"You…" Kujako's energy started to rise. "I'm going to kill you."

"Go for it."

Kujako yelled out as he lunged at Liomara. But it was no use. Even converting his anger into power, he was still no match for his opponent. Once Liomara got serious, there was nothing he could do. But...even that wasn't accurate. The truth was, Liomara wasn't serious at all. Even saying that he was just playing around would have been an understatement.

He was already gone when Kujako got close enough to attack. He quickly turned around, expecting his opponent to have moved behind him. But he wasn't there either. He kept looking around, but then his opponent was in front of him again. "Don't mock me!" He shouted. Then, he suddenly felt a great amount of pain in the outer sides of his thighs. So much so that he could no longer stand. He fell to his knees first, but they couldn't support him either, so he fell on his face. He turned his face sideways at the last second as to not break his nose. "I can't...bend my legs…" He managed. He looked down to see a pool of blood near his hips.

"Of course not." Liomara told him. "I slashed both of your IT bands. There's no fuckin' way you could walk after that."

"You bastard…"

"Hey, hey, no hard feelings." Liomara smiled at him. "I would have loved to play around some more with you, but I've still got searching to do. And besides, if you lost sight of me that easily, you wouldn't be very fun to play with, anyway, right?"

"I'm...not finished!" Kujako suddenly shot an energy blast at Liomara. "Take that!"

The smile faded from Liomara's face as he sighed. He didn't even attempt to dodge the blast, and it exploded on his face, creating a cloud of dust. "What kind of loser says 'take that' when he's attacking?" The dust blew away in the wind, and Liomara's face had not even a single scratch on it. "I changed my mind. You weren't as cool as I thought you were, so I'll just kill you here."

Kujako squinted his eyes shut. _Damn it...there was nothing I could do to begin with! What was I thinking...going up against a monster like this...and I actually thought I could win for a little bit...what a load of shit!_

"Ah, this could be trouble." Liomara muttered. Kujako opened his eyes and looked up. Someone was standing between him and the man that was about to kill him. "You're Kashito, aren't you?"

"That's right. And you're Liomara." Kashito responded. "One of my cousin's closest friends. And yet, he's dead, and you're here, attacking what he devoted his life to protect. And not only that, you have my student lying at your feet. What emotions do you think I'm feeling right now?"

"Probably anger, right?" Liomara guessed with a nervous laugh.

The smile that Kashito always wore on his face was no longer there. "Anger doesn't even begin to describe it." The ground at Kashito's feet began to freeze.

Seeing that, Liomara began to back away. "Yeah, well, I'd love to fight you, but I was actually ordered to stay away. So if you want your revenge on me, I hate to say it, but that's not going to happen." With that, he sheathed his sword and disappeared.

Kashito sighed and turned around to his student. "Are you alright?" He asked. "There's a lot of blood."

"What are you doing?" Kujako managed. "Don't worry about me, go after him."

"You can't walk." Kashito told him. "If I left you here, you would bleed out. And besides, he won't fight me, anyway. Truth be told, I don't think it's really him that I'm mad at. I know that's not actually Liomara. Who I'm mad at is whoever's responsible for this. Rinjiko's new pupil, Hangyaku. I'll find him and put an end to it myself."

* * *

_Saketsumibito Boreigoku Seigyo._ That was the name of her bankai. When she released it, it seemed so...heavy. Of course, other powers and transformations had felt heavy in the past, such as Shihebi's third form, but this was different. It was almost as if it was heavier for the user and the one on the receiving end.

"Is this really...a bankai?" Dominick asked.

"Have you never seen one?" Emi responded.

"I have, but this is just...so different."

Her kimono had burst into black flames, which now covered her body, and the ends of her hair had turned white. Her blade was completely red. It was a dark, blood stained red. "Whatever you think, I'm going to finish you off as quickly as possible. This form is extremely painful to maintain." Of course it was. Those black flames are her were literally the physical manifestation of pain, after all.

Dominick, despite the wound still existing in his stomach, brought the two white blades of Hikari Seigyo in front of him. "I guess there's no choice. I'll have to find another way to defeat you."

"What a foolish boy." She replied. "How can you hope to defeat me...with that fragile shikai of yours?"

"I know you're stronger than me." Dominick scowled. "But you aren't my enemy!" He lunged at his opponent.

_"Kaminai Tatari."_ Emi muttered as she flicked her zanpakuto.

It suddenly felt as thought Dominick's very soul began to burn. He clutched at his heart and fell to the ground, yelling in pain. "What...did you do to me?!" He growled from the floor.

Emi looked down at him with unforgiving eyes. "You should be asking what you have done to deserve this." She said. "That fact that you're on the ground in front of me tells me that you haven't led a very righteous life, have you?"

"What..?" He managed.

"Boreigoku Seigyo's power is to punish. It punishes the dead who have sinned. Those who cannot go any lower are forced to fight for me." She explained. "However, Saketsumibito Boreigoku Seigyo has the ability to directly punish its opponent for any sins they have committed. Someone who has lived a righteous life would not be affected, whereas a serial killer would likely instantly be killed."

"I've killed before." Dominick muttered. "So why am I not dead?"

"Saketsumibito Boreigoku Seigyo judges his opponents himself." She told him. "If you killed in self defense, or the person you killed was truly evil, he doesn't hold it against you."

Dominick thought back. Who had he killed? The first person that came to his mind was Katsu. That was probably what was causing most of the pain. Also, there was Shihebi. Was he evil? Shihebi could have lived. Dominick didn't _have_ to kill him. This all really was his fault. But...that was all the more reason to save the woman in front of him now.

"Emi...have you sinned?" He asked her. "I'm asking...if you're really one to bestow judgement on other people."

"I am not the one giving out punishment." She replied. "I am merely a vessel that allows Boreigoku Seigyo to perform its duties. In return, he provides me with these flames in order to protect myself from his wrath."

"Those flames...aren't they the very source of your pain?" Dominick inquired.

Emi looked at herself, engulfed in the black flames. "When people feel guilt over something they've done, they hurt themselves in order to provide some sort of atonement. If nothing else, it is pain that is meant to ease the pain of something else. That, in a sense, is what these flames are. These flames are a pure, physical manifestation of pain. All of the pain that Boreigoku Seigyo has suffered through...he gives it to me to protect myself from my own sins."

"That's...a delusion!" Dominick shouted at her. "Those flames are only a facade. The only one who can save you from your past...is yourself." He struggled to his feet. "All I have to do now is to help you along the way."

"You dare mock my relationship with my zanpakuto?" She sneered. "As if you're one to talk. You've only just learned his name."

"It's true, Hikari Seigyo and I are just starting to build our relationship. But if the bond we had wasn't true, he would have never told me his name. That's the kind of zanpakuto I wield. Together, we'll shine a light on the truth. One day, we'll know for sure."

_That was well said. But be careful. She is getting ready to attack again. _Hikari Seigyo was with him.

"I can see her. She's stronger than I am." _Will you help me once again?_

_You can still beat her. You've noticed it already, but her heart is unsteady. It is likely that if you extinguish those flames, you will be the victor._

"Extinguish the flames…" Dominick muttered. _But how?_

_That attack you call the "Light Blanket"...it has its own name._

Dominick's blades began to shine brighter. "That attack...what is its name?"

_That attack...you've been calling it by the wrong name this entire time. Therefore, it has only reached a fraction of its potential. On top of that, you have two blades now. The attack you are about to release...will be like nothing you've ever felt before._

"She's coming!" Emi lunged toward Dominick, her blood red blade raised above her head.

"Just because you can see me doesn't mean you will be able to stop me!" She yelled as she quickly approached.

_There's no time to waste!_ Hikari Seigyo commanded. _Do it now! It's name is…_

Dominick slashed both blades downward in an x-shape. The sheets of light crossed paths, making it nearly impossible to dodge. He called the name of the attack._ "Soushiro Musei!"_

Emi's eyes widened as her body armor made contact with the flames. There was a screeching sound as the energies collided. "What is this?!" Emi screamed. "I can't push back!" Suddenly, the flames hardened and cracked, along with the light. Both of them shattered at once. Emi fell to the floor, her zanpakuto reverted back to its normal state. The fight was over. As if it was much of a fight.

_Of course._ Dominick thought to himself. _What better way to combat blackness than with light? I think...I got lucky._ His zanpakuto also reverted to its normal state. I still won, though. He clutched his stomach and staggered over to Emi's unconscious body. "Fuck. I reopened the wound." Lots of blood was leaking through his shirt. "Emi...wake up." He muttered. "I don't even know...if I saved you…"


	31. Doubts and Honor

_Chapter LXXIII: Doubts and Honor_

"Yo." Hangyaku said as he walked up behind Liomara. "You tired or something?"

Liomara was sitting at the base of a tree far north of where he originally was. His breaths were short and panicked. He was drenched in sweat. "I had a run-in with Kashito." He managed. "It's no wonder you told me to stay away from him."

Hangyaku's eyes widened a little bit. "You really ran into him?" He asked. "I didn't think that would actually happen."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I thought Rinjiko would want to talk to him."

"Rinjiko?"

"Nah, whatever." Hangyaku replied. "It's good that you got out of there alive."

"No kidding." Liomara shuddered. "His stare literally gave me the chills."

"No shit. He's got ice powers, after all." Hangyaku said. "Stand up, already."

Liomara obeyed. "Why did you come back? Am I doing that shitty?"

"No, I just came back to take a person off your list." Hangyaku explained. "You don't have to worry about finding Dalton, after all. I found his whereabouts, and I guess it's necessary that we wait two years before trying to capture him."

"If you say so." Liomara replied.

"Also, there's no need to worry about Kashito, either. Most likely, he'll end up coming after me, so I'll deal with him. So, you know what that means, right?"

Liomara smiled. "Of course."

"Now, since Martin is dead, and Dalton, Soriyamo, and Kashito are out of the picture, you can focus all of your time on Dominick."

"I've been looking forward to that the most."

"Obviously." Hangyaku said. "But don't get careless. That boy defeated Emi."

"Emi?" Liomara asked suddenly. "Is she-"

"Relax, she's alive. But you probably won't have control over her anymore, so she may as well be dead." Hangyaku explained. Liomara sighed after he said that. "You just felt relieved, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Liomara turned to look at his creator. _Did I? Do still have feelings...for that woman?_

"Well, we can't have that." Hangyaku said, shrugging his shoulders. "As my strongest creation...I really need you to listen to everything I say. And all of those past relationships...they're all in the past, right?"

"Of course, Hangyaku."

"Now, let's give it a couple of days." Hangyaku told him. "Right now, they're expecting you." He smiled. This was his sadistic side bubbling to the surface. "Let's let Emi warm up to them a little bit. Let them get comfortable. And then, when they're least expecting it…"

* * *

Emi woke up with Dominick lying unconscious at her feet. Shirako was there, healing him. Rari was standing behind him. _What happened?_ She looked around. _Where am I? Where's Liomara?_ Rari stared at her with emotionless eyes. _That's right...I poisoned him with Boreigoku Seigyo...and Liomara's sister, too. What...have I done?_

"I'm...so sorry." She mumbled.

Rari walked over to her. "I'll forgive you this time, because Lisa's alive, and I know that you weren't yourself." His eyes remained emotionless.

"He should wake up anytime, now." Shirako said. "His wounds are completely healed."

The two of them left. They didn't speak another word to her. Why? Were they fine with her being like this? Or were they livid? Why didn't they finish her off? Then she looked down at Dominick. He wasn't in pain anymore. He just looked like a sleeping child to her. Before she knew it, tears were running down her face. "Dom...oh, Dom. You really are just like your father." At only nineteen years old, he really was a child compared to her. "You have no idea how much Jason meant to all of us. Liomara, Shinrou, and myself...none of us would have been the same." She stroked his hair. "We knew you would show up here someday. It's the least we could do...to watch over you in his place. Although...I guess I'm the only one left."

A woman cleared her throat behind her. "What are you doing?"

Emi turned around. "Who are you?"

"I'm his fiancee, thank you very much."

Emi looked down at her hand which was entangled in Dominick's hair. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said as she quickly took her hand away. "I didn't realize he had someone. It's just that in my mind...he'll always be a cute little kid."

"Have you met him before?" Ichimei asked.

"Ah, no, but...I knew...his father."

Ichimei's face lit up. "That's great! He's actually been searching for his father this whole time! Do you know where he is?"

Emi averted her eyes. "I...don't." She looked depressed. "I think, by now, it's been about eighteen months...since he disappeared. He and Liomara went out alone one night. They said they'd figured out what was behind all this. But, it was only Liomara who came back that night. He didn't say anything about Jason. But when he came back that night...his eyes...were different. And ever since then, he's worn sunglasses. I haven't seen his eyes in eighteen months." Then, she got up. "He should be waking up pretty soon, so I figure I'll leave him to you. Your fiancee is strong. He defeated me in a wounded state. He saved my life. But...I'm afraid he won't be able to do the same for Liomara. He's just too strong."

"Dominick can do anything." Ichimei told her. "Because he doesn't know when to give up."

"I see." Emi replied. "That trait is not always good." Then she flew up toward the exit, leaving the two of them alone in the underground training room. _That's right. If someone's going to do something about this, it has to be me._ She found that no one was in the locker room. They were all in the other room, sitting down, looking solemn. There was a man lying on the ground who looked like he'd been burned severely. A girl with red hair was trying to heal him. _Those wounds are from Jakio._ After all of this, it was finally starting to set in. For her, everything was falling apart. Jakio was dead. Taoshin was dead. Akeboru was dead. Shimoria was dead. Liomara had turned evil. She was alone. So, she had to finish it alone. It was the only way not to harm any more people. The people Liomara that cared for so much, that he had led for much of his and their lives. And his sister, Lisa. She poisoned her lover's little sister at her lover's command. To her, it was the least she could do to atone.

She started to sneak out the back door. "Where do you think you're going?" Someone called from behind her. "And just who told you that you could leave?"

She turned around. It was Shirako. Of all the people, she thought he would be the last one to stop her. "I'm going to stop all of this." She told him. Her lower lip was quivering ever so slightly. "Please don't try to stop me. This is partially my fault, and I'm the only one who can stop Liomara."

Shirako shook his head. "So it really is Liomara, then?"

Emi put her hand over her mouth, realizing she'd just given away her lover. "He...he's being controlled!" She exclaimed frantically. "It's not really him! It's not really his fault!"

Shirako could see the desperation in her eyes. He was an empathetic man. But would true empathy lead him to let her go? Or would he protect her? There was no way she could win against Liomara. She would surely die. He sighed. "I won't allow you to leave this place."

"Why?!" She yelled at him. "What difference does it make to you?!"

After hearing her cries from the other room, several heads poked into the locker room. Shirako saw them and shooed them away. "I haven't seen Soriyamo around, but until he shows up, I'm the leader of this house. You'll listen to what I say. And to be frank, I don't trust you. You were in league with Liomara when he attacked this house and burned down Grand Kai's place. I have no way of knowing that you won't go and grab some more of your friends and attack us again."

"I wouldn't-"

"Can you prove it?" Shirako asked her.

She went to answer, but then she got a better look at the blond man's face. It wasn't a suspecting face. It only showed pity. It was then that she realized what he was trying to do. She was defeated before she could even leave. "I understand." She said, dejected.

Shirako's face softened quickly. He had a very warm smile. It made her want to cry again. She didn't know why, but it seemed to lower her defenses. "Thank you." He told her. "You can stay as long as you'd like, but you are only free to leave after we have everything sorted out."

She nodded, then started looking around. _I really can't leave? But what is there to do around here..?_

Suddenly, Sairyo shouted from the other room, "He's awake!"

Waichei still had burn marks all over his body. That was burnt tissue that would probably never go away. At least, his skin was no longer entirely red. The burnt tissue was in patches. There was a patch over his right eye, which was now permanently squinted and a patch on his lower left cheek that invaded his jawline, but his torso got it the worst. Roughly half of it was covered in burnt tissue. At least, for the most part, his hair was intact. Shirako walked into the main room. Emi followed him because she had nothing else to do.

Shirako and Waichei made eye contact, and when they did, everyone when absolutely silent. Waichei smiled. "Were you the one that saved me?" He asked Shirako.

"I only did what Sairyo asked of me. She's really the one that saved you." Shirako responded with little emotion.

"I see." Waichei scratched the back of his neck. "Well, thank you both."

Sairyo knelt down beside him. "I should be the one thanking you! If you hadn't stepped in, I would have surely died!" Her eyes welled up. "Really...how stupid are you..? If you would have died…"

Waichei placed his hand on the top of her head. "Thank you for crying for me." He said. "I truly thought...that would never happen."

Shirako crossed his arms. "You did save Sairyo's life." He muttered. "For that, you have my thanks." He then promptly walked out of the room. Emi stayed.

"Excuse me…" She started. "You two fought Jakio, right?" The two of them nodded. "Did he…"

Waichei smiled. "He used his most powerful attack on me, and I withstood it. He died while still standing. There couldn't have been a more honorable way to die."

Before she could stop herself, before she could tell herself to hold it together, the tears were already streaming down her face. All of the dams she'd put up within herself had fallen down. All the emotions she'd been holding back this whole time came flooding out. "Thank you." She said before burying her face in her hands.

Shirako met with Rari and Kaoren in the locker room. "Do we have a headcount?" Shirako asked.

Kaoren nodded. "But you might not like what you hear."

"What is it?" Rari asked.

"There's nine of us here, if we include Dominick." He explained. "We had thirteen to begin with. Dalton left a month ago, but we have no idea if they got to him. Martin...is probably dead. As for Soriyamo and Kasae, we have no idea where they are. We hadn't felt Kashito's or Kujako's power levels until recently. I think it's safe to assume they're alright. But even still, we're missing our top guy and our number three guy. And Martin was no weakling, either."

"And who knows how long until Dominick and Waichei can fight again." Rari muttered. "We have no idea if or when Liomara's going to attack again. He was after Dominick in the first place, and since Dominick's still here, Liomara's bound to come after him again."

Shirako knotted his eyebrows. "We have no idea how strong Liomara's become in the last twenty years. The only one who would have a clue would be Kasae, but we don't even know where he is." He said. "And to make things more complicated, there's probably someone pulling the strings. It's likely that person is even more powerful than Liomara."

Kaoren stared at Shirako. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that...we should at least be prepared for someone on Kashito's level."

* * *

"What do you say? Will you let me bring this power out of you?" Meiryu smiled at Martin with crescent shaped eyes. Those eyes made him seem carefree. But they were also devilish. There was definitely something unsettling about his white pupils. Martin found himself entranced. They may have been disturbing, but those eyes weren't lying. He really wasn't bluffing about his strength.

"Yes." Martin said. "I'm in your hands." He told himself to keep his guard up. Like that would do anything. The truth was, he just didn't want this man as his enemy. At least, that was part of it. Of course he wanted to be ridiculously strong. He wanted power. Was he making the same mistake Dalton made?

"I'm glad to hear it." Mr. Rievere replied. "For the next couple of days, I think it would be best if you stayed with me."

"Why is that?"

"Because Liomara and Hangyaku both think you're dead." The informant told him. "And I believe it would be best for them to keep thinking that."

"I see..." Martin started. "Hold on, won't Dominick and the others need my help?"

"I'm confident that they will be fine." Mr. Rievere said. "Dominick has also made great strides in the last couple of weeks."

"I'm going back." Martin protested. "I can't forgive myself if I don't help them."

Suddenly, his elbow was bent and his forearm was behind his back, being clutched by Mr. Rievere. "Did I not make myself clear?"

Martin clicked his tongue. "I swear, if they get hurt, and I'm not there to help…"

"I said they will be fine." He let go of Martin's wrist. "Now, onto more pressing matters."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't you think...it's time that you achieved Super Saiyan 6?"


	32. Ready or Not

_Chapter LXXIV: Ready or Not_

Four days had passed since Dominick defeated Emi. She got used to living in that little house fairly quick, although she spent most of her time with Dominick in the underground training room trying to act like his mother. Ichimei stayed down there as well for two days, then went home. While she was there, Dominick spent most of his time with her. Emi kept nagging him to come train with her.

Dominick was beyond excited to show Soriyamo his shikai. But he was gone. In the four days that had passed, no one had shown up. Not Soriyamo, not Kasae, and not Martin. However, Dominick was still convinced that Martin was alive.

Despite the fact that he was hiding it, Shirako was in the worst shape out of everyone. Soriyamo was his best friend. There were three people that already went missing eighteen months ago. Now, there was no sign of Soriyamo or Kasae. Who was behind all of this? What was strange was that it wasn't like their power levels suddenly disappeared. They weren't fighting when it happened. Their power levels had been concealed the whole time. They just stopped coming back. It was rough on him. His mind kept wandering. Could he have prevented this? What could he have done differently? But he had to keep strong. After all, he was much like the caretaker of the house.

And then there was Lisa. She still hadn't woken up. It wasn't as if her life was in danger, otherwise Rari would have lost it and gone after Emi a while ago. But it was still worrying. Had she gotten poisoned worse than Rari had? Or did it just affect her body more? Rari spent every hour of the days by her side. She was also the reason that Shirako hadn't gone to search for Soriyamo. That was left up to Sairyo, Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Yosuhiro. Sairyo pretty much went off on her own to look for Kasae. Nyoriyo followed her despite her protests. Kaoren and Yosuhiro were to look for Soriyamo and Martin. In their minds, they were looking for a body. There was no other explanation for the sudden disappearance than death.

Dominick wanted to search for Martin as well, but Shirako made him stay. Emi agreed with Shirako. "You need to hone the power of your zanpakuto." They both said. That was why he spent the entire time in the underground training area.

After Ichimei went home, the morning of the third day, Emi approached him. "You're completely healed, right?" She asked him. He nodded in response. "I talked to Shirako. We think that you're ready to start training for Bankai."

"Really?" Dominick asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "And I'll be overseeing your training. Shirako has to watch over Lisa, and I'm the only other one with a bankai."

Dominick smiled. "Bankai, huh? I'm catching up to Soriyamo. Slowly, but surely."

Emi laughed. "Not quite. Although you may catch up to me soon."

"What do you mean? I beat you already."

"That was because my heart was wavering. If we were to fight now, I would surely win."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't talk back to me, young man." She was such a mother. It made him want to talk to his own mom. They hadn't spoken in a while. Although, he shouldn't have to use King Kai or Ichimei to contact her. She could reach out to him on her own. He wondered why she hadn't done so.

"So, how do you even achieve bankai, anyway?" Dominick asked.

Emi sat down and motioned for him to sit down with her. He obliged. "First of all, you have to manifest your zanpakuto in the material world. I'd venture a guess that you've only met him in your subconscious mind, right?"

"Yeah." Dominick answered. "But how am I supposed to bring him outside?"

"That's what the training is for." Emi told him. "It takes a long time to learn."

Dominick rolled his eyes. "Again? I just got done with some training that people told me would take a long time."

"Don't roll your eyes at me." She said, folding her arms. "Do you want to learn bankai or not?"

"I have to learn bankai." Dominick replied.

"Then you have to put in the time."

He nodded in agreement. "So, how do I actually bring him out, anyway? So I know what I'm trying to do."

Emi sighed. "I already told you, you'll find out through the training."

"No, but I'm asking what the training itself is, I guess." He said. "Like, what did you do to manifest your zanpakuto the first time?"

She hesitated. "Oh, well...it just kind of happened for me, so I don't really know. I was just going to have you meditate and talk to your sword until you figure it out."

"You don't even know?" Dominick exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Don't say it like it's my fault!" Emi retorted.

"Ah, whatever. I'll figure it out myself." He drew Hikari Seigyo and crossed his legs. "I just set him horizontally on my lap like this, right?"

"Yeah." She responded. But he was already inside of his mind by the time those words came out of her mouth.

Dominick found himself in his own backyard. It was only the second time that he'd been there. The emotions were still fresh to him. He didn't really know what to think.

Hikari Seigyo was standing behind him. Dominick was tall, but Hikari Seigyo had several inches on him. "You've come here on your own. That doesn't happen very often."

"Yeah." Dominick replied.

"That can only mean that you want something from me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Before you even get your hopes up," Hikari Seigyo started, "I must tell you that you aren't not ready to use bankai."

"What?!" Dominick exclaimed. "But how am I supposed to-"

"You've only just learned my name three days ago." He interrupted. "What makes you think that you can learn bankai now?" Dominick didn't answer. "On average, it takes ten years for someone to achieve bankai. And even then, only the very strongest can achieve it. You think it is common because you only see the very strongest. In Universe 3, where we came from, there are thousands upon thousands of zanpakuto that never have a bankai realized. Only about thirty people are in existence that have bankai."

"I'll still learn it." He retorted. "I've already beaten two bankais, so there's no reason I shouldn't be able to use my own."

"You beat those bankai's with your _fighting_ energy. That's the only reason you can handle the shikai as it is. However, your reiatsu is severely lacking. With your level of reiatsu, you will never be able to achieve bankai."

"Then I'll train and build up my reiatsu." He said.

"That's not all. You may have enough energy to withstand shikai, but you don't have what it takes to master bankai." Hikari Seigyo explained.

"What do you mean by that?"

Suddenly, his own blade was at his neck. The point was within a centimeter from piercing his skin. He swallowed slowly. Why was his own zanpakuto trying to attack him? "If you couldn't even read those movements, you won't be able to achieve bankai." Hikari Seigyo told him with expressionless eyes. "Because...to be able to use bankai, you must first manifest me in the outside world, and then defeat me." He then sheathed his sword. "If you want to be prepared for bankai, you'll have to do two things: build your reiatsu up to an acceptable level, and build your fighting energy up to a level where you can beat me."

"How do I even build up my reiatsu?" Dominick inquired.

Hikari Seigyo pointed his index finger at Dominick, whose arms were suddenly thrown behind his back and cuffed together with some form of light. "This is a binding reiryoku." He said. "A reiryoku is any type of personalized reiatsu. _Soushiro Musei_ is a reiryoku. This is different from Kido, since of course zanpakuto cannot use any sort of spells that shinigami use."

"Shinigami?"

"People who wield zanpakuto in Soul Society are shinigami. Basically, if you have greater than average reiatsu, then you can join the shinigami academy. If you become a shinigami, you're given an _asauchi_, which is, in essence, a nameless zanpakuto, and by training with that _asauchi_, you subconsciously mold its personality and ability into something that works well with you. That is what gives a zanpakuto its name."

"But, you said you found me. Does that mean someone else wielded you be me?"

"No. And that brings me to the reason that we, the Seigyo family, were looked at as failed experiments." Hikari Seigyo said. "You can say we were like the test runs of zanpakuto. The members of the Seigyo family, plus other other, were made with set abilities and strengths. Not that we can't get any stronger, but we weren't blank slates to start with like the others. And this was a huge problem. Zanpakuto form their strength relative to their users so that they are able to wield them. So, for instance, the strongest zanpakuto ever to exist in Universe 3 was said to be Ryujin Jakka, and it was wielded by one of the founders and the Captain Commander of the Gotei Thirteen, Shigekuni Yamamoto. If a foot soldier were to try to wield Ryujin Jakka's full power, they would likely incinerate themselves from the reiatsu alone. That fact was overlooked by our creator, Oetsu Nimaiya, and created us to be ridiculously strong. It came to be that no one in all of soul society could wield us, including Shigekuni Yamamoto, and we were subsequently cast into the dangai. While in the dangai, we were lucky enough not to be taken by the Kouryu, but eventually the Janitor came and blasted us about 1,500 years into the future. It then took roughly 500 more years to find you."

Dominick stared blankly at his zanpakuto. "What you just said...made absolutely no sense to me. You were blasted into the future?"

"Time acts very strange in the dangai. First off, the entirety of that dimension flows 2,000 times faster than both of the worlds it connects. Then, if you get taken in by the Kouryu, which basically manifests as a purple mold in the dangai, you are stuck there forever, and it is also likely that the flow of time is infinitely more dense than the outside world. The Janitor is meant to clean up invasive beings in the dangai, and it flings them to a place they can never come back from. Either that or it destroys them entirely, depending on if they are physical matter or reishi. As a zanpakuto, I am made from reishi, or at least not physical matter, so I was not destroyed. But the Janitor hit us pretty head on, so we were flung very far into the future. If it had only nicked us, we would have been flung a couple years, maybe days into the future."

"Okay." Dominick said. "I know how you came to find me, now. But I still don't know how to build up my reishi."

"Oh, that's simple." Hikari Seigyo answered. "Just break your restraints. You'll find it will be hard to do with just brute strength."

By the middle of the fourth day, Dominick still hadn't broken the first restraint. When he was starting to get frustrated, Hikari Seigyo informed him that this was only one of many restraints he would have to break, and they would get more difficult each time.

But once again, his time in the subconscious world that was his childhood backyard was cut short. Dominick suddenly stood up, and he was back in the underground training facility. "You've been meditating for over 24 hours!" Emi exclaimed.

"Do you feel that?" Dominick whispered to her.

"Feel what?"

"That…" Then he realized that what he felt wasn't a power level, but complete, pure murderous intent. And it was being channeled directly toward him.

"Dom, what the hell are you talking about with that serious face?" Emi asked with a nervous chuckle. He didn't answer. Instead, he clutched Hikari Seigyo and put his arm out in front of her. "Dom, seriously. What's going on?"

"Get behind me." He muttered with a sort of commanding force.

"Tell me what's happening."

"Someone's...here."

"Ding ding!" A voice called. "I'm glad you figured that out quickly, Dominick! You really are as smart as your father said you were."

Emi's breaths began to get shorter and more jagged. Dominick looked at her, and she was sweating bullets. "L...Liomara…"

"What's up, Emi?" He was a good ten meters in front of them, in plain view. But when was it...that he got there?

"So you're Liomara." Dominick murmured, his face tense.

"And you're Dominick." He replied. "You look a lot more like Jason than I was expecting."

"Can't you leave us alone, Liomara?" Emi pleaded. "We swore to Jason we would watch over Dominick, not capture him and bring him back to some…"

"It's real sad to see my lover betray me like this." He smiled. But that smile faltered for a split second. "I now have a promise to Hangyaku that I have to keep."

That falter in his facial expression didn't slip past Emi. _What is this? Was that doubt I saw in his face?_

"Hangyaku...he's behind your betrayal. Is it safe to assume that he's also behind the disappearance of my father?" Dominick demanded.

"Who knows?" Liomara replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Although, I do have something to show you that may look a little familiar." Slowly, he lifted the sunglasses that he hadn't taken off for eighteen months. Emi covered her mouth in reaction to what she saw. Dominick, despite the fact that he already basically knew, was still unsettled. Both of Liomara's sclerae were pitch black, like nothingness.


	33. Save and Kill

_Chapter LXXV: Save and Kill_

Dominick thought he was looking into a mirror at first. Or rather, he remembered himself looking at himself in the mirror...at his eyes, and how they weren't his own.

"Liomara." He muttered. "I'm going to save you."

"No." Emi interrupted. "I'll handle this. It's my job to save Liomara." Her face only showed two emotions: resolve and fear. They were two emotions that counteracted each other. Whether or not she could save her lover depended entirely on which emotion emerged victorious.

"I know that look." Liomara sneered. "You're trying to figure out a way to beat me. Well, hate to break it to you, but it's not happenin'. Regardless of what kind of strategy you come up with...regardless if your resolve overpowers your fear...I'll be the winner, and you'll be dead."

"You won't lay a hand on her!" Dominick yelled. "It's me that you want, so I'll be your opponent!" He suddenly lunged at Liomara.

"Oh, come on. Do you really think this will turn out well for you?" He smiled. "In the world of my perspective, you're nothing but a little brat." Dominick grew closer, and winded his arm back for a downward blow to Liomara's forehead. The punch was caught. Then, Liomara moved his hands upward, dragging Dominick's fist with it. His feet left the ground, leaving him only to struggle against the iron grip in midair. "What a shame. You almost got me."

"Let me go, you bastard."

"Okay. Here, I'll give you a free hit." Liomara set him down. Without warning, Dominick transformed into a Super Saiyan 5 and punched Liomara square in the left cheek. Liomara was also a Super Saiyan 5, although it was unclear as to when he transformed. He didn't dodge, flinch, or even blink for that matter. The force from the punch made his head move a little, but he moved it back with a smile. "Alright, that was your chance." There was suddenly a hand clasping Dominick's throat. He felt is feet lift off the ground again. "Do me a favor and go to sleep for a while, okay?" Liomara's left forearm bulged, then he buried it in Dominick's lower abdomen. He coughed blood all over Liomara's other arm, then his head fell back.

"No!" Emi yelled. Liomara let Dominick's body fall onto the ground. Then he was behind her. She turned around, reading his movements, and attacked him with a back hook kick. He quickly ducked under it. With his body low, she took advantage and jumped up, then drove her knee down toward the back of her lover's neck.

He disappeared. She landed on the ground, stood up, and looked around for him. He suddenly wrapped his arm around her neck, his elbow at her throat. "Let's stop this." He said. "The more you drag this out, the harder it is for both of us."

"No, stop!" She screamed. She was panicking. "I don't want to go back! I don't want to be controlled anymore!"

"It's alright, Emi." Liomara said. His voice was smooth and calm. "I don't have to take you back. I won't make you go through that anymore."

Her eyes widened as she looked back at him. He was smiling at her. That was a smile that she hadn't seen in a long, long time. "Liomara…"

"Your independence was one of the reasons I fell in love with you." He told her. "I've missed this side of you."

Emi's eyes grew watery. Liomara's grew softer, but his sclerae were still back. "Liomara, you have to fight back. Please...I need you."

He let go of her throat. She turned around to face him. They locked eyes for a couple of seconds. Then she buried her face in his chest, sobbing. But she knew this wouldn't be enough to turn him for good. As subtle as possible, she reached into her belt and drew her sword. She felt Liomara's hands softly rest on her back. Her heart hurt.

Liomara looked down at Emi. He remembered Hangyaku's words to him when they spoke in the forest. _Let's let Emi warm up to them a little bit. Let them get comfortable. And then, when they're least expecting it…_ He clenched his teeth.

Emi's heart was in pain. Would she really have to hurt Liomara in his moment of weakness? Was she capable of doing that? But...that aching in her heart suddenly changed into a sharp pain. An unbearable stabbing pain. She backed up a little bit to see the base of Liomara's zanpakuto. None of the blade showed. It was inside of her chest, piercing straight through her heart.

She then looked up to see Liomara's emotionless face staring down at her. _When she's least expecting it...kill her._

"Liomara...why?" Blood trickled down from the corners of her mouth.

"I'm sorry." He replied. "But it's too late for me to go back now." He pulled the sword from her heart and blood splattered all over the floor. She fell face down, and before long she was basking in a pool of her own blood. _Why? Why did this happen? It wasn't supposed to end up like this. We were happy. Right? I…_ "Ban...kai…"

"What?" Liomara asked. Suddenly he fell to the ground and started writhing in pain.

Black flames billowed up from Emi's body. _Come on...I have...to purge the evil from his body...before I die…_

Suddenly, Liomara began to stand up. "Stop, Emi…" His face was contorted in pain and rage. "You're making this difficult...SO JUST DIE!"

He raised his sword over his head in preparation to stab her again. He brought his sword down._ Damn it…_ Emi thought._ I couldn't...even save the one I love…_

Suddenly, two shining white blades came in, caught Liomara's zanpakuto inches above Emi's back, and twisted it out of his hands. Dominick was hunched over so that the blades could reach low. Liomara couldn't see his face. "A brave move, for sure. But really stupid, too." He sneered. "If you would've stayed down, you wouldn't have to feel anymore pain."

Dominick looked up at him. His irises were crimson. "I'm going to kill you. And then I'm going to kill Hangyaku. I'm done with this. I don't care anymore."

Liomara made an amused look at Dominick. "Those eyes...that's good." He said. "You're still alive."

"Did you think you'd killed me?" Was it cold? Liomara thought he saw Dominick's breath. "You'll have to do a lot more than that." His power began rising. _"Soushiro Musei."_ Dominick suddenly flicked one of his swords diagonally upward toward Liomara. As soon as he saw the sheet of light leave the blade, he jumped back, but by then it was already too late. The light caught up to him, and his raised his arms in front of his face to block. The light blew through him, causing him to yell out in pain. When it dissipated, Liomara was left with a giant scar that stretched from his right hip to his left shoulder.

"You…" He muttered. "That was good. I wish I didn't have to capture you now, because you have some mad potential."

"I guess that's good for both of us, then...because you won't be capturing me!" He lunged at Liomara with both blades in his hands. Liomara just waited for him to attack. However, before he got close enough, he jumped into the air. When he was directly above his opponent, he touched the ends of his blades together, and between them, a large ball of energy formed. He fired it. Liomara stopped it with one hand. That didn't surprise Dominick, or at least he didn't show it on his face. He kept moving. Another energy ball formed at the tip of the blades, then fired. Then another. And another. After the fifth shot, there seemed to be a break in between attacks. Liomara had stopped all of them with his right hand. Suddenly, Dominick appeared through the smoke that his attacks had created. He swung both of his swords inward in an attempt to decapitate his opponent. Liomara leaned back to dodge. He almost forgot that he didn't have his sword. He looked at where it was, but immediately had to look back to dodge Dominick's next attack. The young saiyan was relentless. He really wasn't acting like himself. And his eyes...were the same as when he killed Akeboru. And they were the same...as all those years ago, when he was only eleven years old. It was as if they were a precursor to…

A fist suddenly shook Dominick's jaw, messing with his vision and making him dizzy. Liomara rushed over to get his zanpakuto. When he picked it up and turned around, Dominick was rushing at him again. "You don't quit, do you?"

They clashed blades. Since Dominick has two swords, Liomara had to move twice as fast to parry all of the attacks. That wasn't a problem. This was only a game for him after all. He'd said that before, but it had grown into something more. He didn't want to deal with this. There was some pain lingering in his body. It wasn't from the scar that Dominick had inflicted on him earlier. It was a deeper pain, rooted in the loss of something he'd cherished for years. It made him feel angry. But he still couldn't deny his own existence. That was the one thing he never lost. His smile, his carefree attitude. The promise he made to Lisa. It was the one and only thing that he didn't lose.

Dominick suddenly jumped back. "Liomara, I'm going to kill you." He declared.

"You already said that, kid." He replied, shaking his head. "You know, this is becoming a pain in the ass, you know?" He raised his sword. "You're surprising me with all of this strength."

"I'm flattered."

"That wasn't a compliment. I like you better in the way that my mind perceived you." His reiatsu started to rise. "Why don't you just go ahead and become that person for me, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Dominick asked.

"Unveil…"

Dominick tensed up. _Shit! He's releasing his zanpakuto!_ "I won't let you!" He yelled. _"Soushiro Musei!"_ He swung both blades, creating the same "X" shape that he defeated Emi with. That one hurt to release. He was low on energy already. In his rage, he'd put a lot of energy into those five blasts earlier. And Liomara still blocked them with one arm. He had no choice but to attempt a hail mary.

Liomara dodged the _Soushiro Musei._ Dominick's power began to rise again. That was when something unsettling occured. Dominick smiled. Sure, he'd smiled during fights before, but this was different. Liomara and Hangyaku had messed with his friends. Martin was missing, he had no idea if Emi was alive, and even his father was involved. He was livid. And that was part of the reason he smiled. "I don't care...I'll use everything I have. I'm going to kill you, Liomara. Even if I die, I don't care."

And, for the first time, Liomara's smile faded. "You're...serious."

Dominick's power continued to rise. Both of his blades shone brighter than ever. Then, he put them both in his left hand. It seemed like the blades merged into one thicker blade. "This is everything I have. There's no telling whether or not I'll live through this attack." His eyes shone in that crimson color. "But I don't care! Die, Liomara!"

Liomara clenched his teeth. _This kid...am I really going to have to…_ That tinge of fear that Liomara felt also sparked a certain form of joy for him.

_"SOUSHIRO MUSEI!"_ The attack was no longer a sheet of light. It was much thicker than that. It also had many times more power in it.

"Now this is fun." Liomara muttered. When the light got close to him, he let out a bellow from his stomach. The ground crumbled around him, and the light simply reflected off of what seemed like an invisible barrier. Soon, it was all gone, and Liomara was standing there as if nothing happened.

Dominick stared with wide eyes. Eyes that had reverted back into their normal blue. _All that...did nothing? What kind of monster...is this guy?_ Liomara started approaching him. Dominick took a step back and almost fell. _Oh, no...I can barely stand...I'm so dizzy. I've lost. I couldn't even lift my arms if I tried._ Liomara was already behind him, and he didn't even realize it. All he realized was that he wasn't in front of him. _Damn, where'd that bastard go?_ He felt a sword enter his back side, and cut a deep gash all the way across his back. He fell unconscious instantly.

"Aw, I wish we could have fought for longer." Liomara sneered, standing above his body. "As if. I didn't even get to use ten percent of my power. Now then, shall we leave?" As Liomara went to hoist Dominick over his shoulder, a Seigyo zanpakuto was flung onto the ground between them. "A zanpakuto? But whose is it?" Liomara peered into the direction that the sword was thrown from. "...I see. You've finally shown up. The one I've looked forward to seeing the most, after all this time."

The owner of the zanpakuto was there, and then his hand was placed on its hilt. Through his glasses, he looked down at Dominick. "Shirako, he's in really bad shape." He said. "Can you keep him alive?"

The blond man nodded. He had also just shown up. "I won't ask questions. But we really could have used your help earlier."

"Sorry. I was having serious doubts about this group, but it seems as if they've been cleared."

"That's good to hear. I promise I'll keep Dominick alive." Shirako flew back up to the locker room. _This...is really bad. He has absolutely no energy left. You have to pull through, Dominick. I can only do so much…_

"Ah, damn. My target got away." Liomara complained. "But this is really something. To think you would show up so late in the game, Kasae."

"Save it." He snapped. "Tell me why you're doing this, Liomara."


	34. Kasae vs Liomara

_Chapter LXXVI: Kasae vs. Liomara_

Kasae bent down and felt Emi's neck. There was no pulse. "You really...Liomara, you killed her?" No answer. "What happened? Why are you doing this?"

"Kasae, it's good to see you." Liomara said. "It's been too long. Sorry for disappearing like that."

"Where did you go?"

"I was taken in...by people who opened my eyes." He explained. "You could say that I've been reborn."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kasae demanded.

Liomara removed his sunglasses. "This is what I mean." He dropped them on the floor and stomped on them. "At this point, though, I don't think I need these."

Kasae clenched his teeth. "Have you really fallen this far?"

Liomara laughed. "Fallen? You won't believe the amount of strength these eyes have."

"That's what this is about? You said you were investigating something larger than all of us, and then you disappeared. Was this all a lie?"

"I said I wanted to be a part of something larger than myself. And I found it."

"And it led to this. Look. All of your friends are gone."

"It was a necessary sacrifice."

Kasae's stomach twisted in a knot. "I see." He drew his sword. "I've misjudged you, Liomara."

"We don't have to fight, Kasae." Liomara proposed. "You can join me. After all, you were the only member of that group that I truly had respect for."

"You have no idea...how much I went to hear those words for the last twenty years. But now...it's too late."

"Are you going to stop me?" He smiled.

"Yes." Kasae replied. "I am." A golden aura shone around his zanpakuto. "Pierce, Kihakuya Seigyo." His zanpakuto morphed into a what looked like two sickles that were held together at the tips of both blades with a perpendicular handle. The curved parts of the blades were facing opposite directions, making a sort of incomplete circle. The bases of the sickles were pointed like spikes and were parallel. The entirety of the zanpakuto was glowing a pale golden color as if it was made out of pure energy. Kasae flipped the weapon backwards so that it ran up parallel to his arm.

"Kihakuya Seigyo, huh?" Liomara muttered. "It's been a while since I've seen your zanpakuto release."

"Yeah. Who knows, there might be a new attack you don't know about yet."

"Well, you aren't the only one who's learned new stuff, Kasae. Did you think I'd just sit around for twenty years?" Liomara also drew his zanpakuto.

Kasae's eyes widened. "Since when...did you get a zanpakuto?"

"It's been about eighteen months."

"So it was when you disappeared. Is that when you betrayed us, too? Or was it even before then?"

Liomara didn't answer. "What do you think it does? Care to take a guess?"

"Just use it."

"No, no, that's no good." He laughed. "To be honest, it probably wouldn't even work that well on you. I think too highly of you for it to work."

"Whatever." Kasae said. "If you don't want to use it, I don't care."

As if in the same mind, both of them transformed into a Super Saiyan 5 at the same time. The only difference was that Liomara's hair was still black. Kasae lunged at his former master. From the middle of his two sickles, a large golden arrow made of energy formed. He flew right past his opponent and from behind, he shot the arrow at his back. His zanpakuto was a bow and arrow. Liomara ducked out of the way of the projectile. Kasae fired two more. Liomara jumped over one and deflected the other. Then, he suddenly closed in on Kasae.

Instead of moving back to maintain a long range on Liomara, he stepped forward. "Did you think that by closing the gap between us that I would be powerless?" He scoffed. Then, as Liomara grew closer, he flipped his weapon around again so that the straight ends of the sickles faced his opponent. The two clashed blades. Liomara's zanpakuto was caught between the two ends of Kasae's.

"Of course not." Liomara smiled. "I've seen all of this before, haven't I?"

"Well, you haven't done anything I haven't seen, either."

"I haven't really done anything, though."

"Then do something." Kasae said.

Liomara dropped his sword and sent the fist that was holding it directly at Kasae's face. It hit hard and fast. He grabbed his sword again before it even hit the ground while Kasae stumbled back. Still with one hand on his face, Kasae retaliated with an upward swing of his sword. Liomara jumped back to dodge. Kasae read through this and jumped back at the same time. He flipped his zanpakuto back and fired an arrow. It looked like Liomara wasn't going to be able to dodge. But he only kept smiling. He grabbed the arrow just before it struck him. "You must not remember just how fucking strong I am." Liomara stared at him with those black sclerae. "I was number one for a reason." He then charged his old friend. They clashed blades over and over. With each strike, more dust would rise. Eventually, they left the ground and began to fly all over the underground training room. Every once in a while, when a blow would strike near a cliff or a hill, the force would deform that particular landscape.

_"Kyutenwaru!"_ Kasae yelled as he shot an arrow into the air. It disappeared.

"You think I haven't seen this one before?" Liomara asked. That was a common theme. They were too close to have a real fight. They already knew each other's attacks. At least that's what each of them thought about the other. And that created some mind games to be played.

Suddenly, one hundred arrows rained down from the sky in place of the one that Kasae had fired into the air. They all came down at once on top of Liomara. A split second before they hit the ground and a giant dust cloud was created, he looked up and smiled. "How stupid." Kasae muttered. "I know you're still alive in there."

Liomara laughed like a father would force himself to laugh at a prank his own son pulled on him. "Kasae, Kasae. I know you aren't dumb. I just want to drag this out. I haven't seen you in too long."

"Cut the shit." Kasae snapped. "I don't care. I don't care if you're stronger than me. I'm going to kill you. I have to, for myself."

"Okay, okay." The former master replied. "I'll use this, then. It's an attack I know will hold some nostalgia for you."

_There's only one attack he could be talking about. The one he was famous for when we were still alive...when he was known as the Red Rabbit._ Kasae lifted his zanpakuto in front of his face.

_"Usakai."_ Liomara muttered. Suddenly, his entire body was engulfed in a red aura. His body disappeared and the aura began to move on its own. Then, the aura itself became a blur. It was moving almost too fast for Kasae to see.

"Shit." He mumbled. "He's gotten faster if nothing else." Liomara shot back and forth in front of him, as if he was hopping around. Kasae suddenly felt a fist in his gut. Then an elbow in the back of his neck. Then a shin in his side. The blows were coming at a ridiculous rate. _Fine. I'll use this, then._ He took one more punch right below his nose. _"Tsunzaku Junkan!"_ Arrows manifested and shot from within Kasae's body. Liomara's attack was forced to stop. Kasae winced in pain immediately after he released his attack.

"That was new." Liomara said. "How rude. Suddenly releasing an attack that I haven't seen like that...it's a little dirty, don't you think?"

"I don't care."

"Well, then, I guess I should return the favor." In his left hand, a purple cloud formed.

Kasae's eyes widened. "What the hell is that?"

"This is one of the new powers I got after I disappeared." He explained. "I got it from a man named Hangyaku."

"So it was your reward for betraying us." Kasae growled.

"If you want to put it that way." Liomara extended his left arm. The cloud floating in his left arm transformed into a sword. He now was double wielding. Kasae lunged at him, blinded by a sudden surge of anger. The purple sword extended, catching him by surprise. He dodged just in time, but it still managed to cut his cheek. Liomara swung his zanpakuto from the other direction. Kasae then ducked under it and threw an elbow at his opponent's chest. Liomara winced as his former student's elbow hit his sternum. He then brought both hilts of his swords down on Kasae's back, throwing him face first into the ground. "That was too easy." Liomara rose both swords above his head to deliver a finishing blow.

Kasae suddenly rolled over and pointed his zanpakuto at his old master in bow form. A shining arrow was pointed just below Liomara's chin. "You thought I could only use my bow in long ranged attacks?" He smirked. "Just so you know, _Tsunzaku Junkan_ wasn't the only attack I learned since we last saw each other."

"Is that so?" Liomara said haughtily.

_"Morerute."_ The arrow extended toward his throat. _I've got him. There's no way he can dodge at this close of a range._ Liomara's eyes widened. Suddenly a purple mass came in between the arrow and his throat. "What?!" Kasae looked slightly to the right. Liomara's purple sword had bent, seemingly of its own will, to protect him from the attack.

"That was a close one." Liomara chuckled. "That can't be all that attack has to offer."

"Of course not." Kasae scowled. "You would have seen had it actually hit you."

Liomara's smiled faded. "You're completely at my mercy, now." He held his zanpakuto to his former student's throat. "Let's change locations. This place feels restricting."

"What are you talking about, Liomara?"

"Neither of us are using our full powers right now. And we both know it. So let's go somewhere we can let loose and settle the score for good." He removed his zanpakuto from Kasae's throat.

* * *

"What happened?!" Rari exclaimed when he saw Dominick unconscious in the arms of Shirako. "Is he alright?!"

Shirako's eyes were solemn. "It's not good."

"He'll survive, right?" Nyoriyo asked.

Shirako looked down as he set Dominick down in the main room next to Lisa. "He has virtually no energy right now, and he's not breathing. By definition, he's already dead."

"No way that can be true…" Rari muttered, sitting down. "There's no way."

"But I don't think it's too late." Shirako added. "I can still feel the slightest amount of life force in him...and he's still warm."

"Can we do anything to help?" Sairyo asked.

"Sairyo, you can keep an eye on Lisa for me." He told her. "Everyone else, don't take this the wrong way, but please just stay out of my way. I need to be fully focused right now."

Sairyo stayed, and everyone else left, their heads hung low. The situation was grim. There was nothing they could do.

"Shirako…" Sairyo started. "I-" She stopped herself. Now wasn't the time.

"Let's get started." Shirako mumbled as he rolled up the sleeves of his brown robes.

"Stop." A voice said from behind him. He turned around frantically, thinking it may have been Liomara. It wasn't. But that didn't rule out the possibility of him being one of Liomara's allies. "Don't heal him. He needs to overcome this on his own."

Shirako's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're…"

"I am that boy's zanpakuto, Hikari Seigyo."

"Why are you appearing before me..?"

"I have to stop you from healing Dominick." He said. "If you heal him now, he may never be able to use bankai."

"How does that have anything to do with…" Shirako finally realized what the zanpakuto was saying.

"Don't you understand?" Hikari Seigyo asked. "This is a perfect opportunity for…"


	35. Beyond Emptiness

_Chapter LXXVII: Beyond Emptiness_

Dominick awoke in his backyard. Although...something was definitely off about it. First off, the sky was completely black, and it wasn't like it was night or anything. There were no stars, no moon, it was the familiar blackness that overran his subconscious when the Black Sclera was still living there. Although he could make out his backyard, it was very dark. There were cracks all over the ground as well. "What's going on here?"

"Your subconscious is quite literally falling apart." Hikari Seigyo told him.

"What does that mean, though?"

"It means you're dying."

Dominick's eyes shut. "So that's it, huh…"

"Will you give up?" Hikari Seigyo asked. "Or will you fight? Liomara is still alive, and Kasae is fighting him with all he has."

"There's nothing I can do." Dominick said. "I literally nearly killed myself, and it did nothing to him. Can I really expect it to go any better if I fight him again?"

"Have you learned nothing?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I know it's stupid to be unrealistic, at least."

"No." Hikari Seigyo retorted. "Didn't that man Soriyamo tell you...you must always truly believe you can win, even if it's absolutely impossible. Because you must win."

"Even so...how am I supposed to believe that?"

"Because it's possible." Hikari said. It was a simple declaration, but it caused Dominick's heart to lurch. "You have the power to win. There was another thing that Soriyamo told you...about the method of achieving Super Saiyan 6."

"Super...Saiyan 6?" Dominick stammered.

"If it was truly impossible, then Super Saiyan 6...no such thing would exist, would it?"

"But...how can I just...not die? I'm completely out of energy."

"There are two ways to go about gaining access to what's known as the Reserve Bank. One is through sheer will, manual opening up the latches. The other is through me. I have the power to open those latches for you."

"You can?!" Dominick exclaimed.

"I do have that ability. By temporarily providing you with my own power, you can survive long enough to surpass your own limits, opening access to your Reserve Bank. However, it is impossible without understanding not only myself, but myself as I exist in you. As of now, you only understand my purpose as a zanpakuto and a small fraction of my abilities." Hikari Seigyo told him. Many various zanpakuto suddenly fell from the sky and stuck into the ground. "Dominick, let me ask you. Do you understand me? Do you really know who I am? Among all of these blades, will you be able to find me?"

* * *

Shirako was standing above Dominick's unconscious body. Hikari Seigyo had long since left the material world, although it seemed that it was only Shirako that could see him. He suddenly felt the agitated powers below calm down. _Have they stopped?_ It was oddly quiet. The two of them were in the underground training room, so if one of them were to exit, they would have to go through the locker room first. Rari, Kaoren, Nyoriyo, Yosuhiro, and Waichei were all in the locker room. If Liomara came through, would he attack them? Should he go into the locker room to see? Then he heard footsteps coming from the locker room. In the eerie silence, those footsteps echoed throughout the entire house. Then there was another pair of footsteps following behind.

Liomara came through the door first. Shirako instinctively got in a position where he could protect the three others in the room. Sairyo fell onto her rear and began sweating. "His...his eyes…"

"Sorry for the intrusion." Liomara said politely, although his face didn't carry the same softness. He tipped his hat at Shirako. The hat that hadn't moved once since the beginning. "Don't worry. I don't intend on doing anything to you guys. This whole thing has become a huge pain in my ass, so all I'm going to do is settle the score with my friend here, then take Dominick and be on my way." His smile faded for a split second when he laid his eyes on Lisa. The change in his expression was hardly noticeable. "Don't let him die on me, okay?"

Kasae followed behind him. He wasn't right behind him, but he wasn't too far behind, either. He was bloody. And he was bloodthirsty. If Shirako had no context, he would have thought the roles were reversed and Kasae was the evil one. His eyes were literally looked like they could start leaking blood at any moment. His glare was stabbing into the back of Liomara's neck. "Don't follow us." He finally said. "If I don't come back, tell Soriyamo I'm sorry."

"Kasae…" Shirako muttered. With that, the two of them exitted out the front door of the house, and then it was as if they were never there to begin with.

"So where should we go?" Liomara asked.

"You know I don't give a shit about that right now." Kasae snapped.

"Okay, well I know a place that's pretty far northwest of here."

"Works for me."

The two of them flew northwest. They essentially flew directly between Grand Kai's place, which was now in ruins, and the mountain that Dalton was meditating on. They flew over the entire bottom corner of the northern forest, then finally came upon the end of the trees and a ravine with a south flowing river at the bottom of it. On the other side of the ravine there were more plains. In between the trees and the ravine, there was a small grass plateau. It didn't seem like this place had more room to move around than the underground training facility.

"What is this?" Kasae asked. "This is even more claustrophobic than where we just were."

"No, I meant that place was restricting my mind." Liomara answered. "In this place, isn't it easier to just let your mind flow like the river?"

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

"Use your bankai, Kasae." Liomara said in a paternally commanding voice. "It's the only way you'll have a chance against me in this form."

"I was going to use it even if you didn't tell me." Kasae replied. "I just hate using it. It's heavy."

"I know. I'm sorry." Liomara smiled, tilting his head. "But you still need to use it."

"I already said I was going to use it. Don't try to play the good guy now."

"Since when have I played the good guy? Since when have I ever lied to you, Kasae?"

That set the former student off. "What's the difference...between lying...and betrayal?!" His eyes shone with pure anger. "BANKAI!" The two sickles suddenly turned black and swirled around Kasae's right arm, completely covering it. It then hardened, creating a sort of sleeve on his arm, although it was more of a shell. It had a sharp shoulder pad and extended across his back and hovered over his other shoulder. There were many spikes lined across the back. His right arm was now twice as large as his left. "Tenyo Migoto Kihakuya Seigyo!" A giant golden bow fell from the sky. The golden energy wrapped around the black shell above his left shoulder. Behind him, a line of golden energy split in two, forming an elliptical ring that hovered behind his neck.

"You bankai is always beautiful." Liomara said.

"With this bankai, the opposite of Emi's, I'll kill you."

"Opposite?" Liomara asked.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Kasae sneered. "The ten Seigyo zanpakuto were created in five pairs, each holding opposite abilities of the other in the pair. The obvious ones are the elementals. Mizu Seigyo and Kasai Seigyo. Tsuchi Seigyo and Kaze Seigyo. But the others aren't exceptions to the rule. Togosari Seigyo and Yabokami Seigyo. Kaishu Seigyo and what we now know is Hikari Seigyo. And lastly, Boreigoku Seigyo and my zanpakuto, Kihakuya Seigyo." He moved his right hand and the golden bow moved with it. He gazed down at the contrast of black and gold. "I'm sure you know Boreigoku's powers have to do with Hell, right? That means my powers are associated with divinity."

"I could already tell." Liomara smiled. "Attack me."

Kasae yelled. His voice was filled with half determination and half anger. He shot three arrows right away. They were much bigger, and much, much faster in his bankai form. Liomara dodged all three without even moving his feet. He closed in on his former master. Once he got somewhat close, Liomara jumped up into the air. Kasae shot one more arrow up vertically, which was dodged again. "Liomara!" He yelled as he shot up into the air. "Fight me!" He winded his fist back as he approached his opponent from below. Liomara smiled as his body rotated in midair to face Kasae. They both sent a punch at the same time, hitting each other's fists. The shockwave that was caused nearly knocked every tree in the northern forest over.

The fist that Liomara attacked with was the one holding the sword made out of those purple clouds. The blade suddenly extended, then bent and stabbed Kasae's right shoulder. Except it didn't. It simply made a clanging noise as it bounced off the black shell. Kasae smiled as he brought his bow up to Liomara's head. It drew itself. Just before it fired, Liomara grabbed Kasae's left hand and pulled it in toward himself. Then he slammed his head into Kasae's. The arrow in his bow dissipated.

"Urgh..._Kyuten...waru!"_ Without even firing an arrow into the sky, a barrage of them came raining down.

Liomara clicked his tongue and let go of his opponent. _"Usakai."_ His body was engulfed in red and he disappeared. Kasae quickly cancelled the attack.

"You dumbass!" He shouted. "Haven't I shown you that I can counter this attack easily?" He shoved his arms out horizontally on his sides. _"Tsunzaku Junkan!"_ Arrows shot from his body in every direction. They were bigger and faster this time. And there were more of them. And Kasae felt more pain.

Liomara stopped. "Alright then, I guess I'll have to use the other one." The arrows still hadn't reached him yet. _"Usakuro."_ The red aura around him turned black. Everything froze. The arrows, the leaves in the wind, even Kasae.

_What is this?! I can't move._ Kasae flexed his muscles has hard as he could, but he couldn't move. _What is this attack? It's not like he's freezing time...I'm still conscious of what's going on…_ Suddenly Liomara's fist was in his stomach. Things reverted back to normal. Kasae threw up blood on the floor.

"How was that?" Liomara asked. "If your _Tsunzaku Junkan_ was a perfect counter to my _Usakai,_ then my _Usakuro_ is a perfect counter to your _Tsunzaku Junkan._" He twisted his fist in Kasae's abdomen. "Is this all you have? Or have you ascended to the next level as well?"

Kasae's net breath was significantly shorter. _Next level? Does he mean Super Saiyan 6? No, I can't worry about that now._ His breathing slowed. Then he grabbed hold of Liomara's wrist and prepared himself for the immense pain he was about to feel. "Now you can't escape." He said. _"Tsunzaku Junkan!"_ He struggled to actually bring the arrows out of his body. The attack took longer to activate. He yelled in pain as the arrows formed on the outside of his body. But before they could shoot, Liomara took his other fist and planted it in his cheek. The arrows dissolved. Kasae staggered back and realized he could no longer stand. He fell down. His vision was blurry. _What..? Already? Is this it? I'm out of energy._ He got on his hands and knees, panting. And then he smiled. _Finally._

"Is this all you've got?" Liomara complained. "I was sure that you'd…"

Kasae slowly rose to his feet. "I'm ending this. Right now."

"What are you talking about?" Liomara chuckled. "Obviously you couldn't even kill an insect in the shape you're in now."

Kasae pointed his zanpakuto out toward Liomara. An arrow, much bigger than any of the others he'd fired, formed. And it kept growing. Kasae winced in pain and almost fell to one knee. "Come on...just a little further." He urged himself.

"This is stupid." Liomara said. "You're just going to kill yourself."

"Just a little further..!" The arrow kept growing. Then, as if his depletion of energy ignited a spark inside him, he let out a scream. His hair suddenly turned red and his fur golden. His power increased tenfold.

Liomara's eyes widened for a second. _So I was right. He has ascended after all._ Then the giant arrow that had been growing in Kasae's bow was gone. _Shit! I lost focus for a second. Where's that arrow?!_ Kasae, who was now teeming with energy, motioned for Liomara to look behind him. When he did, he found that the arrow was flying toward him at full speed. _I see. He used his extra speed from Super Saiyan 6 to fire that arrow behind me while I let my guard down. Well, he should have fired it closer!_ But he felt another presence closing in on him. He turned back around. Liomara was now charging at him from the original direction. _No, the arrow is a decoy!_ He turned his attention to Kasae again, getting in a defensive stance.

_"Morerute."_

"What?" Liomara asked. Kasae suddenly stopped in his tracks. _No, wait…_ He turned around. _The arrow_ was _the main attack! Shit! He got me!_ Liomara jumped to his right in a desperate attempt to avoid the arrow. It nicked his left shoulder.

Liomara's face now showed amusement. "Hey...that almost got me. That was a good trick."

"It did get you." Kasae said curtly. "I also recall telling you that you'd see what that attack had to offer once it hit you."

Suddenly, many arrows formed inside the cut on his shoulder, then extended, creating many holes in his shoulder and essentially ripping it to shreds. Liomara yelled out in pain. Clutching his shoulder, he muttered, "You...that really was a good one. In fact, that pissed me off a little. That hurt like a bitch. Now it'll be a pain in the ass to use my left arm."

"Give up, Liomara." Kasae told him. "You can't beat me when I'm in this form."

Liomara laughed quietly. "You're right. I can't possibly beat a Super Saiyan 6 while I'm still just a Super Saiyan 5." His eyes flashed with confidence. "But really, there's an easy fix."


	36. Crossing Back

_Chapter LXXVIII: Crossing Back_

"You're right. I can't possibly beat a Super Saiyan 6 while I'm still just a Super Saiyan 5." An excited smile flashed on Liomara's face. "But really, there's an easy fix."

"An easy fix?" Kasae stammered. "You don't mean…"

"All I have to do is use my full power." His muscles began to bulge. "Let's get to it." There was a black aura around him that began to swell. Around him, the ground began to crack. His power shot up. The wind he generated with the energy he put off was strong enough that Kasae had to take a defense stance not to be blown away. Liomara clenched his teeth. It was as if he was trying to hold in the energy for as long as possible in order to make a grander explosion when he finally did release it. The ground caved below him as he let out a massive yell. The aura around him suddenly became chaotic as his power skyrocketed to nearly twenty times what it was before.

Kasae backed up as confidence drained from his body. It was hard to tell in a visual sense, since Liomara's hair and fur was all black, but he'd definitely become a Super Saiyan 6. But his hat stayed put on his head. A shirt and a hair tie were easy to maintain; it didn't have anything to do with the amount of energy one was releasing. But a hat just need some slight upward force to be knocked off. And yet...it was still there. His hair was a little longer than it was as a Super Saiyan 5. His body was a little bigger as well. Not in a way that would make him slower, but it was more sleek, more defined. He'd grown about an inch.

"This power…" Kasae stammered. "This is way too much just for a transformation from Super Saiyan 5 to Super Saiyan 6."

"Of course. That's because I was only sitting at about half power in Super Saiyan 5 before."

"That can't be...you can't have progressed this much in only eighteen months." Kasae muttered. "You have to be bluffing."

"You're just telling yourself that." Liomara responded. "Let me show you firsthand that this is no bluff. _Usakai."_

There was no red. He just completely disappeared from Kasae's view. Kasae hesitated for a second, then pulled himself back together. He couldn't afford to waste time. _"Tsunzaku Ju-"_

There was the red. Liomara was already in front of him with his fist buried into his abdomen. It took awhile for him to realize that Liomara was actually there, and then a little longer for the pain to come. He tried to curse his former master, but there was no air in his lungs to form words. He could only make short breaths and cough up some blood.

Liomara removed his fist, then placed it back on Kasae's face. The former student went flying and slammed into a tree at the edge of the forest. Liomara rushed in on his opponent while he was still down. The _Usakai_ was gone. That meant it was an opening for him to attack. A large, golden blade appeared to grow from the elbow of the black shell on his arm. He slashed at Liomara as fast as he could. Liomara stopped in his tracks just outside the range of the sword to avoid being hit. At least he thought he did. A slit opened up on his shirt and it grew red, stained with blood. It wasn't too deep, but it was a boost of confidence for Kasae.

_I didn't know about the sword._ Liomara cursed in his mind. _No matter. If that's the best he could manage, he has no chance of winning._

"That wound…" Kasae muttered as he stood up. "That wound now belongs to the Holy Mother."

"What did you say?"

"That wound belongs to the Holy Mother now." Kasae repeated. "She will decide whether or not it will bleed."

"That's nonsense." Liomara laughed. "The Holy Mother isn't real. She's nothing more than a tale told to justify the existence of the Universes. She's only a figment of a religion that's long dead." The wound on his chest suddenly spewed blood all over the floor. Liomara winced and dropped to one knee.

"Then what just happened there?" Kasae asked. He acted tough and confident, but he was really having trouble standing. "Sure the religion you speak of is long dead, but this sword was made back when it was still very much prominent. Let the Holy Mother view your actions, and upon her judgement, she will decide whether you live or die."

"What is this?" Liomara, for once, scowled. "What is this?!" Then he broke into laughter. "This is fuckin' nothing!" Kasae's face was suddenly in Liomara's hand before he even knew what was happening. He slammed his head into the tree that was behind him. Kasae's body had been squirming to get free, but it was in shock after that. Then, Liomara took him and threw him into the sky. _"Usakai!"_ He disappeared.

From the point of view of an outside observer, it would have looked like Kasae was bouncing around in midair off of invisible walls. The walls were Liomara. Every single one of them. He would kick his former student into the sky, then use the _Usakai_ to intercept his former student's path and hit him back toward the ground. This process was repeated. Kasae hit a wall about six times every second. This went on for almost ten seconds until Liomara reappeared on the floor. His palm was covering Kasae's eyes, but his mouth was uncovered. He pressed his fingers in to both of Kasae's temples. "Still want to act preachy?" He sneered. There was no response. "Have you accepted your loss already?"

Kasae weakly gripped his former master's forearm. "You...you have no idea…"

"What's that?"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOOKED UP TO YOU!" He screamed. Liomara's eyes widened a little bit. "Why? When you left that night, why didn't you take me with you?"

Liomara smiled. "You know I couldn't do that, Kasae. You were just too weak." Kasae screamed again and began kicking at Liomara. "Like I have room to talk. I was too weak back then, too." He lifted his palm from Kasae's eyes while still keeping his fingers on his temples. He brought his face in real close to his opponent's. "Look at me. Your mentor, the Liomara you knew, is dead." Kasae freaked again. Liomara hit him hard in the gut and his body calmed down. It was as if it was acting on its own. "I said earlier that my shikai wouldn't work on someone strong like you. Didn't that seem like it would make my zanpakuto kind of shitty?" With his other hand, he brought the zanpakuto up near Kasae's mouth. "Well, I didn't say shit about my bankai, did I?"

Kasae's body stiffened. "Ban...kai?"

"You had to have known that I have one, right?" Liomara asked. "With my high perception of you, my bankai would be a perfect fit."

"What is...your bankai?"

"You'll see. I don't want to spoil what's about to happen." He smiled. "But it'll be over before you know it. Bankai."

* * *

"What the hell are you doing, Mr. Rievere?!" Martin exclaimed as he dodged a punch narrowly.

The two of them had spent the last four days deep in the eastern forest in secret. "I've assessed that you have the strength necessary to ascend." Mr. Rievere replied calmly. "Now you must let me kill you."

"Are you crazy?!" Martin shouted. "Like hell I'm going to let you kill me!"

"Why not?" Mr. Rievere asked. "Don't you want to become stronger?"

"That has nothing to do with me dying!"

"Doesn't it, though?"

"Nothing!" Martin suddenly became angry. "You've kept me from returning to my friends to help them, and haven't given me any explanation as to why I can't go back."

"I'll let you go back once you ascend." Mr. Rievere told him. He threw another punch, blasting a tree into nothingness.

"Fuck that!" Martin yelled. He transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. "My friends are in trouble, so I'm going to help them!"

"Hey, hey." Mr. Rievere wagged his finger. "I said no powering up. They'll find us here." He took two fingers and suddenly jabbed them into Martin's chest, piercing his skin and his heart as well.

Blood dribbled from his mouth and the newly formed hole in his chest. Before he could fall, Mr. Rievere placed his palm over the hole. With what little consciousness Martin had left, he felt his energy being forcefully drained out of him. _This bastard...I can't even move…_ He fell to the floor. His vision was fading fast. _What...was I supposed to do? I couldn't even see him. Is this...my fault...for trusting him? I can't keep...my eyes open. I'm tired. Is this really it? Is this how I'm going out?_

"Hey. Hey…" Mr. Rievere squatted down next to him. "You aren't going to die, are you? You can't die, can you? You have to go save your friends, right?"

_He's right...I have to save them. But I'm dying, right? I can't move. I have no energy left. How am I supposed to save them? I can't do anything...I can't save them._

"If you give up now, you will surely die, and all of my efforts will have gone to waste." Mr. Rievere told him. "You haven't run out of energy. I've only removed what's at your immediate disposal." Martin still didn't move. Mr. Rievere sighed. "Look. There's no way you should have been able to beat Taoshin, and you know that. And yet, you still were. Why? You dug out your inner well of power. You found more within yourself. Your limits are not there. This is the same thing. You just have to dig within yourself. The Reserve Bank is there. It's like another well of its own. If you keep digging down, you'll strike it, and all of that energy will flow into a place where you can readily access it. And you've already proven you can do this. So do it again."

Martin's brain processed what Mr. Rievere was saying. He was right. This shouldn't be hard. He'd done it before, so he could do it again. His eyes flicked open, and right at that moment, there was a massive spike in a power level coming from the western edge of the northern forest.

* * *

Dominick's breathing was speeding up as his inner world fell apart. It was getting harder for him to breathe. Was this a side effect? Maybe he really was dying. All he had to do was find the right sword. Could it really be this hard? He hadn't even drawn one. What was the penalty for guessing wrong?

"What are you hesitating for?" Hikari Seigyo asked him.

"How...am I supposed to know...which is the right sword?"

"You must understand who I am." He replied. "You must find that for yourself."

_Find it for myself? You can't expect me to do that when my own inner world is falling apart before my eyes. I'm going to die without being able to find my father. If I die in Otherworld, there's nothing. My existence is wiped. I wasn't as scared of dying before...since I knew that I could just be wished back with the dragon balls. But if I die here, it's all over. I don't get another chance!_

"Calm down." A voice said. Was that Hikari Seigyo? It sounded like him, but it also sounded like someone else. "Think about it logistically."

_Logistically. Hikari Seigyo should have a power level that I'm used to. Should I just look for that? Something that's familiar...but...do I understand him? His ability is light. He's been with me since I was eleven. Eight years. The only reason I've stayed alive that long was because of him. Why did he choose me...and why is his power light? Could it be...he wants to uncover the truths of the Omniverse as well? Of his own free will?_ Dominick gazed over at his zanpakuto. _Am I right?_

"Hurry and pick a sword." Hikari Seigyo told him. "If you falter any longer, we will both die here."

Dominick's face filled with determination. He couldn't die here. He had to survive. He had to find his father. He had to become stronger. And he had yet another goal. One that hadn't left his mind since he made that promise to Shihebi. He had to uncover the secrets of the Omniverse, and eventually become its leader. That way, no one would have to be hurt anymore. He couldn't die here. He closed his eyes and let the energies flowing from the swords reach him. Which one was the most comfortable. Which one felt the most familiar? He had his answer from the beginning. But when he opened his eyes to see the sword he'd chosen, his stomach twisted a little bit. The blade was black. But...this had to be the one...right?

Hikari Seigyo's body stiffened when Dominick grasped the hilt of that sword. "No!" He shouted. "You mustn't choose that one!"

But it was too late. The blade had left the ground. The shaking and cracking of the ground stopped. Dominick's breathing returned to normal. His life was no longer in danger. But the sky did not revert to its normal color. It stayed pitch black. The power he felt flowing into him after he chose the sword did belong to Hikari Seigyo, but he thought he'd felt some other life force in there as well. Something familiar. Something that didn't sit right.

Hikari Seigyo sighed. "To think that this part of me still existed within you...and I wasn't even aware of it."

"This part..?" Dominick asked, clearly confused.

"A part of me that I thought I had purged two months ago...but it was still here. And that is what you chose. You have done what I asked. That was a part of me, and you found it. That means you understood that part of me." Hikari Seigyo said. "You should be good to go. Your life is no longer in danger, and having survived crossing over the line of death, your Reserve Bank should be opened."

"I have to go save my friends, then. Liomara is still out there. I can feel it."

"Be careful." Hikari Seigyo warned. "The part of me that you chose...can be alluring. It can be deceitfully welcoming."

"Yeah." Dominick replied. "I know." With that, he was gone.

He stood up suddenly in the main room of the house. Lisa was still unconscious. Sairyo and Shirako looked up at him with wide eyes. "What's up?" He asked. "Did you see a ghost somewhere?"

"You're really...alive." Shirako muttered. "You were dead for sure, but now…"

"I was dead." Dominick finished the thought. "I crossed that line, then came back."

"That means…"

"That's right. I can feel it. The power of the Reserve Bank...is now readily available for me to use."

"You really are an insane kid." Shirako shook his head.

Dominick smiled and looked straight at Shirako. "I know." Shirako was taken aback at the look Dominick gave him. His eyes were different. For one, his irises shone red, just like when he fought Akeboru. But it was almost as if there was some strange confidence about them. They were determined. They were angry. They were excited. All of these emotions were packed into those red irises. And they didn't seem very...friendly. "I'll finish this. I'll take Liomara out."

Shirako stared into those eyes with awe. _How...does he expect to take Liomara out? Just Super Saiyan 6 won't be enough. There's no way. He's already overpowering Kasae, who is fighting at a level even higher than myself. But...for some reason...I completely, truly believe that this boy can do it. He can win._


	37. Inverted 2

_Chapter LXXIX: Inverted 2_

Just after Dominick left, Shirako felt Martin's power level as he went Super Saiyan 5. He smiled. "He's alive after all." He muttered to himself.

Kaoren suddenly ran into the room. "Did you feel that just now?!" He exclaimed. "That was Martin. He's alive!"

"I felt it."

"He's even stronger than before." Rari said. "We better be careful, or these newbies are all going to pass us."

Sairyo laughed. "They all passed you a long time ago." The mood of the room was lightened. Martin was alive. Dominick was off again, stronger than ever. They had placed their confidence in him. "Honestly. They passed me, too."

Shirako nodded. "Soriyamo and I are in trouble, too. I think, before long, we'll feel Dominick's power skyrocket. Before he left, he told me that he'd unlocked the Reserve Bank. In other words, he's able to turn Super Saiyan 6, now."

* * *

Kasae lay face down on the floor. His body was unmoving. It was pierced with many holes. Liomara's zanpakuto was in its normal state. The wound on his chest was no longer bleeding. "Looks like you lose, Kasae." He sneered. "I'm still the strongest, after all. I know you'd never forgive me if I let you live." The purple sword manifest in his left hand, facing downward. "Now, please, die already." The sword fell toward his neck.

_"Soushiro Musei!"_ A sheet of white light came and sliced the purple sword in two before it could reach Kasae's neck. Dominick was standing at the western edge of the northern forest. "Who are you...to decide whether or not he'd forgive you?!" He exclaimed.

"You came." Liomara said with a nonchalant smile. "It's about time."

"You sound like you were expecting me. I almost died, you know."

"Oh, come on." Liomara laughed. "You've got to be exaggerating."

"The opposite, actually." Dominick responded. "By all definitions, I did die. I crossed that border and came back."

"That's good to hear." Liomara said.

"Judging by how strong you are compared to the last time we fought, I'd say you're a Super Saiyan 6 right now." Dominick assumed.

"You're right. Good job."

"So, that means I'll just have to do the same." Dominick's red irises shone with determination. Liomara's eyes widened. But before he could speak, Dominick let out a sharp yell. Loose rocks began to hover by his feet. As they rose, they absorbed the energy that he was emitting and eventually exploded with a pop. Then the ground started to shake. Dominick drew out his voice as his power rose. The shaking grew more violent. His hair turned red. His fur turned gold. He was ten times stronger than he was before. He was a Super Saiyan 6.

_You can't be serious. At this age, a Super Saiyan 6? He's nothing but a little kid! He can't be this powerful._ Liomara smiled. There was some uncertainty in that smile.

Dominick walked over to Kasae's unconscious body and knelt down beside him. He turned him over onto his back. His breathing was slow at first, but then his eyes began to open. Blood leaked out of the several holes marking his upper body. Once his eyes were open, he seemed to become aware of the pain. His breaths became shorter and more strained. "Dominick..?"

"Don't speak." Dominick said, concerned. "You've lost way too much blood."

"Hurry...and get out...of here…" He muttered weakly. "There's...no way...you can win."

"How long can you hold out?" Dominick asked.

Kasae coughed. "I don't know...don't worry...about me...just get out...while you can…"

"I'll win." Dominick smiled at him. "You have to hold out until I beat him. You can't die here."

"You can't…"

"I can." Dominick's face was purely confident. He wasn't even questioning himself. "I can win. Something feels different about my powers. I don't think I've awakened my full powers yet. Something feels like it's scratching to come out." His eyes seemed to glow red when he said that.

Kasae looked into his eyes with awe. Why were they so confident? "You're...set on...fighting him...aren't you?" Dominick nodded. "Be careful…" He coughed up blood. "His bankai…" His words were strained. "Don't let him...bankai...can steal…" His eyes were closed again.

"Liomara." Dominick said, standing up. "I came here to kill you. When I saw that you were under the influence of a Black Sclera, I wanted to save you from it. But...you killed Emi. And you hurt my friends. Because of you, Kujako is unable to fight as well. Because of you, we have no idea where Soriyamo is. And we have no idea where Martin is. This is all because of you. You may be following Hangyaku's orders, but you're still the face I connect to all of this pain. I haven't given up on saving you. In killing you, you will be free from that Black Sclera. And then I'll kill Hangyaku. Anyone who's behind this pain...I'll kill them all. I'll kill them all myself. I don't care about being righteous anymore. You relieved me of that burden. I'll do anything it takes to stop this pain."

Liomara smiled awkwardly. "Sounds pretty righteous to me."

"I told you, I don't care."

Suddenly, a massive power level spike came from the eastern forest. Dominick recognized that power. And even as a Super Saiyan 6, it surpassed his own power level. He smiled. "Martin, you bastard." He laughed. "Where have you been hiding all this time?! Did you think you could beat me to Super Saiyan 6?!"

* * *

Martin's eyes flicked open, and right at that moment, there was a massive spike in a power level coming from the western edge of the northern forest.

Mr. Rievere felt it, too. He smiled. "Looks like that Dominick is making massive strides of his own." He said. "You don't want him to leave you behind, do you?"

Although his eyes had opened, Martin still didn't have the energy to move. But Dominick was about to fight someone with an insane power level. He had to get up. He had to help him. "I can't...give up...here..!" He scratched at the bottom of his well of power. He scraped at it and scraped at it in hopes of unlocking his Reserve Bank. He had just begun to notice that the power he was aiming for had already begun to seep through. That's why his eyes were able to open and he was able to speak. He clawed and clawed. The opening had to be somewhere. It had to be close if power was already seeping in. "I...won't...die here! I have no limits!" All at once, the power rushed in. Martin shot to his feet as his power continued to rise. The ground quaked around him. It trembled beneath his feet. Mr. Rievere watched with satisfaction, mostly aimed at himself. Martin let out a deep yell as his power level exploded, energy splashing all around him. His hair turned red and grew golden fur on his skin besides his chest. Not that his chest was showing. His tank top was still intact.

"Good job." Mr. Rievere said. "I knew you could do it."

"This is insane. I've never felt power like this before." Martin smiled, checking out his own muscles.

"So, I assume you're going to come back for more training, right?" Mr. Rievere asked.

"I'm grateful for you help thus far. But I can't make any guarantees. I still don't completely trust you." Martin responded.

Mr. Rievere laughed. "Don't worry. I'll just kidnap you if you don't come back." He said lightheartedly.

"Yeah, that's really reassuring." Martin did a couple squats. On the third, he stayed down. "If you don't mind, I'm heading out. I need to go help my friends."

"Well, I did promise you. I won't stop you."

Martin's quads bulged, then he launched himself forward, toward the house where everyone was. He arrived within seconds. Shirako was waiting for him out front. "I'm glad to see you're alive. You've also ascended to the next level."

"Is everyone okay? I don't feel all the power levels that I should." Martin asked.

"It's not great, but it could be worse." Shirako answered. "Soriyamo is missing. Lisa is unconscious. It seems that both Kasae and Kujako have been defeated by the enemy's leader, Liomara."

"Kasae was beaten? This guy is no joke." Martin muttered.

"Kasae was also pushed to the form of a Super Saiyan 6, so his power was actually greater than both mine and Soriyamo's."

"So this Liomara guy is even stronger than Soriyamo?" Martin asked. "And Dominick is about to fight him, isn't he?" Shirako nodded. "There's no way he can handle something like that on his own, even if he's also a Super Saiyan 6. I have to go help him."

"Martin, wait. We'll only get in his-" Martin squatted down again, then lunged toward the ravine where Dominick, Kasae, and Liomara were. "...Way." Shirako looked on as Martin quickly disappeared from view. "You kids...how are you all this strong?" He muttered to himself, smiling. Then he strode back into the house.

_They're just outside this forest._ Martin felt their power levels growing closer fast. _Kasae's still alive, but he's not doing well._ When he saw them appear in the distance, they were already looking in his direction as if they were expecting him.

"Martin!" Dominick yelled. "I knew you were alright! I knew it!"

"You beat me to the punch by a couple of seconds." Martin said as he landed. "But it looks like we've both ascended to Super Saiyan 6."

"Yeah, this is an insane amount of power, isn't it?" Dominick sounded excited.

"Totally." Martin then directed his attention to the man standing across from Dominick. "So this is Liomara. His eyes. His sclerae are black. Is Hangyaku behind this?"

"Yeah." Dominick told him.

"I heard that he's stronger than Soriyamo. You shouldn't take him on alone. Let's fight him together."

"Sorry, but I've already decided I would take his life myself." Dominick replied. His eyes were fixated with an element of anger on Liomara. "I can win this fight by myself."

"I know Soriyamo told you to always believe that you can win a fight, but isn't this too much?" Martin asked. "I mean, he took out Kasae when he was even stronger than Soriyamo, and he got off with a couple scratches. Even as a Super Saiyan 6, defeating him isn't possible with our individual powers."

"I know." Dominick said. "With my current power, I can't beat him. But I can tell...there's some power within me, trying to get out. What's blocking it is the fact that I'm not fighting. That it's not yet necessary." He looked at Martin. Although his best friend was much more muscular than he was, Dominick was well over 10 centimeters taller.

Martin raised his eyebrows. "Those eyes...just what kind of power...are you really hiding?"

"I don't know yet." Dominick answered. "But I know it's powerful."

"I...will leave him to you, then." Martin trusted his best friend. "But be careful. That power within you...I know its strong, but be wary of it as well. Something about your eyes…" _While they're determined, they also look bloodthirsty. Dominick...don't turn into something that you can no longer recognize._ "I'll take Kasae back to Shirako and see what he can do." With that, he picked up Kasae's body, squatted down, and lunged again, this time heading back where he'd come from.

"It's just us now, Liomara." Dominick declared. "I'm ready to start."

"So, Martin was actually alive, huh…" Liomara muttered to himself, scratching the back of his neck and completely ignoring Dominick. "I guess I should have known as much. Hangyaku will be happy that he's alive, but it'll be a real pain having to capture two Super Saiyan 6's alive."

"Snap, Hikari Seigyo!" Dominick yelled. His sword split in two, leaving him with two, shorter, white bladed swords with no guard.

"No need to get hasty." Liomara smiled. "I'm actually glad you came here. There was something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?"

"You see, the first part of that was actually partially a lie." Liomara told him. "I actually knew you would come here. That's why I chose this place instead of somewhere more open, so we could fight."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Dominick demanded.

"Do you know what significance this place holds? It actually has to do with you and me."

"What?"

"See, this place...that river down there...is actually the site of your father's death."


	38. Site of the Defeated

_Chapter LXXX: Site of the Defeated_

"This is...what?" Dominick stammered. He couldn't believe his ears.

"I said, this is the place where your father died."

"How do you know?" His anger started to boil.

"Because I was the only one to witness it." Liomara responded. There was quiet after he said that. One could only hear the slight breeze and the water running at the bottom of the ravine. "That was the event...that caused all of this."

Dominick first felt confusion. _Death? But he was already…_ Next, he felt hopeless. After finally having the possibility of seeing his father again...he was gone. His existence was wiped. That was what happened if you died again after already being dead. He could never see his father again. Then he was furious. Even more than before. "That event...caused this?" A golden aura flared around him. "How dare you...blame my father's death...for your actions?!"

He shot at Liomara. For just a split second, Dominick disappeared from his view. He brought both of his blades down diagonally, aiming at either side of Liomara's neck. Liomara jumped back in the nick of time. Without hesitation, Dominick sent a flying side kick at Liomara's face. He blocked it with his free hand, which he had gained after Dominick sliced his purple sword. _What the hell? How is he this strong? He shouldn't even be half as strong as Kasae, but this strength...he's only a boy. He shouldn't be this strong. Don't tell me I'll have to use my shikai on him._

"What's wrong?!" Dominick shouted. "You're spacing out!"

"My bad." Liomara smiled. The purple smoke reformed in his hand. Now both of them were dual wielding. _His persona has changed, too. He was calm before. Now he's...a little out of control. It seems...familiar._

Dominick retracted his foot, then attacked with a double downward slash. Liomara blocked it with his purple sword. He pushed back up, and with his zanpakuto, he jabbed forward. Dominick jumped up, putting his weight on his blades. He flipped over Liomara's head then turned around, thrusting his elbow at the back of his opponent's neck. Liomara ducked under the attack. Then, without any warning, he turned and slashed with his zanpakuto. It struck Dominick at his left hip, then he jumped back. The gash would have been worse he his reflexes not been heightened, but he still was cut from his hip to the center of his stomach. His blood dripped off the edge of Liomara's zanpakuto.

Damn it… Dominick clutched at his side in an attempt to manage the bleeding. Liomara was stronger than he had thought. _He's so fast. Close range is a no go._

He chose to distance himself. He jumped up in the air, and flew back far enough to where he was hovering far above the river. Liomara let him retreat. He watched his best friend's son with an excited smile on his face. "I can feel it. He's going to use the attack that put this scar on my chest." He chuckled. "I can't wait."

Dominick tossed his other sword into his left hand so that he was holding both with that hand. He brought them above his head and swung down. _"Soushiro Musei!"_ He yelled.

Liomara didn't have to wait long for the attack to arrive. As a light attack, it moved extremely fast. In a split second, it was already there. But he was prepared. Like last time, he didn't have to dodge. He simply manifest energy around him, and it acted as a shield. The light shattered in front of him. His face was left in disappointment. "I should have expected as much...since I'm a Super Saiyan 6, too."

Dominick looked down with wide eyes. "No way...even in this form...I couldn't even touch him?"

"What did you expect, kiddo?" Liomara smiled, putting his hand on Dominick's shoulder. "You're weaker than Kasae. And if anyone had a chance at beating me, it was him."

_When did he get up here?_ That thought barely entered Dominick's mind before his body moved on its own. That was actually a lie. His body didn't move on its own. _Something_ moved it. Some conscious in his body moved it. Was it his subconscious? He had no idea.

He swung his blades with extreme precision and speed. Liomara did the same. For some reason, despite having the greater strength, Liomara had been on the defensive for the entire battle. Their blades clashed at a frightening rate, and with such strength that sparks flew with every collision.

As the battle went on, Dominick felt himself losing the desire to kill Liomara. He was still angry, and still wanted with all of his heart to complete his goals, but the man in front of him, despite his smiling face, was no longer having fun, either. When they fought in the underground training room, it was different. He was so nonchalant. Nothing mattered to him. All he wanted was a good time. That was why Dominick was so angry at him in the first place. That was why he convinced himself that he needed to kill Liomara to quench his rage. Did he really convince himself? Or was it something else that convinced him? Either way, that desire was all but dissipated by now. The two could read each other's emotions through their zanpakuto. Not literally, but when clashing blades with each other, they could get a feeling of the other's heart. What their true emotions were spelling. Liomara's emotions had changed since the beginning of their fight, as a matter of fact. Liomara was in pain. He was struggling. He was sad, and lonely. He had no choice but to keep fighting. He had no control over his body's actions anymore. This is what Dominick would have become if it weren't for Ichimei.

_This is all Hangyaku's fault._ Once again, he found himself getting angry. The power inside of him was quite literally pushing to get out. It was almost as if he could physically feel it pushing at his throat, making it hard for him to breathe. _Why won't it come out?_ Dominick wondered. _At this rate, I'll either be captured or die. He's stronger than me._ Liomara had taken his confidence and stomped it into the ground simply by his display of power. _I need this power. I need to use this power. I don't care what kind of power...I just need to win. I just need to be able to kill Hangyaku._ Then an idea dawned on him. It took all of his willpower to acknowledge. Again, something within him refused to try something so cowardly. Something in him still wanted to kill Liomara. He lowered his defenses.

Liomara was about to attack, then stopped. "What are you doing?"

Dominick relaxed his muscles. "I give up." He said. "You can capture me. I won't fight anymore."

"What is this?" Liomara scowled. "What's with this complete turn around? Did your father raise such a coward?"

"It's not that." It's just easier for the both of us. "It's the quickest possible path to saving the ones that I care about."

"The quickest path, huh…" Liomara sighed. "In that case, I'll do everything I can to kill you here. No matter what, I won't let you take that path." His eyes were suddenly serious.

Dominick got back into a fighting stance. _Talk about a complete turn around in personality...he seems so determined now. Is this his way of fighting his Black Sclera?_ "That's unfortunate. You would betray Hangyaku like that?" _There go my plans to find that bastard Hangyaku and kill him._

Liomara laughed at him. "You think that's the case? Keeping you guys alive was never required. It'll just be a pain if you die. But I honestly don't get why. If you're dead, any chance of you escaping_ that_ place go out the window."

"That place?" Dominick asked. "What are you talking about? If I die here, my existence will be-"

"Wiped?" Liomara sneered. "In some sense, that's correct. You'll be wiped from this plane that the Universes lie on, with no hopes of returning. But, that doesn't mean that you, as an entity, will cease to exist completely. In other words, you will only exist in a dimension completely separated from any of the Universes."

"What is this 'dimension' stuff you're talking about?"

Liomara waved his hand in front of his face. "Nah, nah, don't worry about it. I already spilled some beans I wasn't supposed to. Just know...even if you end up there, they will find you, and they will bend you to their will. That is an absolute."

_They? Who's they?_ Dominick thought. _Hangyaku? Are there more people working with him?_ The image of Mr. Rievere came to his mind, and it sent chills down his spine. _Are there people...with that kind of strength?_ For some reason, Soriyamo came into his mind. He shook himself out of his own thoughts. "If I can't let myself be captured, I'll have to lure Hangyaku out here! That means I'll have to defeat you!"

Liomara laughed. "That's better!" He encouraged him. "But you have to know there's no way you can beat Hangyaku. And there's no way you can beat me, either!" They lunged at each other again. Dominick's power continued to slowly rise as they fought. Yet, it still reached nowhere near the heights that Liomara's reached.

Liomara's zanpakuto dug deeply into Dominick's shoulder. Dominick winced in pain as the force dragged him down. He pushed back up with his leg strength as Liomara forced his sword down. Dominick shielded his body with as much energy as he could so the sword wouldn't cut any deeper. But it was already deep. As he pushed back up, with his opposite arm, he swung one of his blades upward. _"Soushiro Musei."_ The light just shattered on Liomara's body again.

"You just never stay down!" Liomara shouted with frustration. At this point, Dominick's body was covered in gashes. His nose and lips were bleeding, and internal bleeding wasn't unlikely. He couldn't continue like this for much longer. "Just die already!" He'd said the same thing to Emi before he killed her.

Dominick scowled up at his opponent. "I can't die here." He managed. "I won't die...before I kill Hangyaku!"

Liomara's eyes widened. "Kid. You reminded me of your dad a little bit there." His purple sword vanished, and he placed both hands on his zanpakuto. "I can't have my past holding me back."

"Liomara…" Dominick muttered. "You're just running away from your past. You're a coward." But he wasn't. Dominick had barely noticed, but Liomara was slowly getting weaker as the fight went on. Liomara was fighting himself as well as Dominick. He was fighting the Black Sclera within him.

He smiled. "Like I'm going to listen to the lectures of a little kid like you. It's time I give up...and make this fight easier for me. Right? Isn't everything easier when it all goes how you expect it to?"

"Wha…"

"Unveil, Kagamichi." In the center of his blade, a ripple effect occurred. It continued to deform the blade in midair until it disappeared entirely. Dominick was literally unable to take his eyes off of the events unfolding before him. It had him in a trance. He couldn't move a muscle until the spectacle was over and the zanpakuto was gone.

As soon as he regained mobility, Dominick dropped to the floor. "What kind of...shikai...is this..?" He managed. His breaths were short. As if it was not enough for him to be covered in gashes, now it was as if he was being crushed by something as well.

"Hey, I'm impressed that you're still keeping that form." Liomara sneered. "Don't you think it's a little much for a kid like you to handle?"

* * *

Martin arrived back at the house only moments after he left Dominick. Shirako was waiting out front for him again, like he was expecting him to come back. "Shirako, Kasae's in terrible shape."

"I can see that. Let's bring him inside."

As soon as they stepped foot inside the house, Sairyo jumped up and ran over to Kasae's side. "What happened?!" She yelled. "Kasae, who did this to you?! You can't die!"

"As much as you're upset, I need you to step back, Sairyo." Shirako said solemnly. "He's in critical condition. I'll need complete focus to heal him."

"I can help." Sairyo said. "Let me help. Please."

Shirako reluctantly nodded. "Lend me your energy." He lied Kasae on the ground.

As Martin sat down on a bench, he noticed Lisa on the floor near them. Rari was kneeling beside her body. _Her life isn't in danger. But...she isn't waking up._

Shirako and Sairyo put most of their energy into keeping Kasae alive. They had to pour it in perfectly steadily or else it may rupture a wound. Any sort of rupture would spell death for him here. They sat perfectly still for what felt like minutes. In reality, it couldn't have been much longer than ten minutes. Once his life was no longer in grave danger, they slowed down the flow of energy to preserve their own stamina.

Slowly, Kasae's eyes opened. "What…"

"Kasae!" Sairyo exclaimed.

"Calm down." Shirako told her. "Keep your concentration." Her body stiffened, then returned to a relaxed state.

"What...are you doing here?" He managed weakly. "Don't...worry...about me."

"We're saving your life." Shirako told him.

"Go...you have to help...Dominick...and Martin...if you three...fight together...you might...have a chance." Kasae struggled to form those words.

"Don't talk, Kasae." Sairyo said. "Shirako trusts that Dominick can win this battle alone."

"It's true." The blonde man said. "If you pay close attention, the difference between their powers is slowly getting smaller. Liomara is weakening."

"Just stay still." Sairyo told Kasae. "I have to prove to you that you can rely on me."

Kasae managed a weak laugh. "Sairyo. I've been...relying on you...since we...were alive."

Her eyes widened, then grew wet. "Now you really aren't allowed to die, stupid."

His eyes began to close as he smiled. Martin got up suddenly. "Don't worry." Shirako said. "It's likely that he'll pull through."

"Thank god." Sairyo exhaled.

"No, that's not it." Martin said. His eyes were fixed at the front door. Shirako looked around to see everyone else in the room doing the same. Then his eyes moved to the door.

"Hey." The man who stood at the door said. "I wasn't even gone that long. What the hell happened? Even Kasae got his ass kicked?"

Shirako's stomach twisted. But then his spirits were lifted. "Soriyamo." He smiled. "I could ask the same thing. Where the hell have you been?"

"What are you talking about?" Soriyamo asked. "I took out some green haired guy who tried to drown me then came right back."

"What?" Shirako stammered.

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"Soriyamo, you were gone for four days."


	39. Perception

_Chapter LXXXI: Perception_

"Is it hard to stand? Is all that power too much for you?"

Dominick clawed into the ground and pulled his body toward Liomara. He could hardly move. "What did you...do to me?"

"I haven't done anything." Liomara responded. "You've brought all this on yourself. You got ahead of yourself and released all this energy that there's no way a kid can handle."

"A kid..?" Dominick's eyes widened. "Is that...your zanpakuto's ability?"

"Who knows? You've never seen me use it on anyone else." He said. "I don't like giving away my zanpakuto's ability. It doesn't fit the fighting spirit of a saiyan. All it does is make things easier for me." He sighed. "But in times like this, either when I have to follow orders, or I want to finish a fight quickly, it really comes in handy. That is, when the opponent is of your caliber."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I think...my shikai is just shitty, to be honest." Liomara lamented. "Against Kasae, it would have actually made that fight harder to win. Isn't that stupid? Zanpakuto releases are supposed to make you stronger. But mine doesn't affect my strength at all. It only affects other people's strengths. See, your strength was affected in my favor."

"But why would it make Kasae stronger?" Dominick asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Liomara stopped him. "Enough questions. Stand up, and we'll finish this fight. You can power down if you have to."

"Like hell…"

"If you can't stand, don't worry about it. I can just kill you right now, too. You're either coming with me incapacitated or dead. I won't let you fight Hangyaku."

"Don't underestimate me." Dominick growled. "This isn't enough...to make me give up." His legs quaked as he slowly rose to his feet.

Liomara's smile grew on his face. "Oh, wow. You're surprising me. I didn't think you would be able to stand like that."

Now that Dominick was standing, he felt the full force of the energy flowing through him. He had to focus in order for the energy not to spill out. If that happened, he would probably revert back to base form and not have enough energy to power back up, and the fight would be over right away.

He lunged forward. He moved faster than he expected. He surprised himself. In fact, he had no means of stopping himself. He had too much speed for his own good. He shot past Liomara. It seemed that Liomara had sped up as well. But how? Was this also part of his shikai? Liomara turned around and lunged at him. He was so fast, he completely disappeared from Dominick's vision. He reappeared in front of him. He didn't attack, as if inviting Dominick to have a free blow. Dominick took him up on the offer. With his left hand, he swung up and diagonal at Liomara's left oblique. He immediately felt his left hand get lighter as it made contact. When he looked down at his left hand, the blade was gone. It had shattered into pieces as soon as hitting Liomara's side.

Liomara's black sclerae looked down at Dominick. Even though they were roughly the same height, Dominick knew he was being looked down upon. He then felt Liomara's fist deep in his torso. He felt and heard multiple crunches, then found himself flying back into the forest. His power was beginning to leak out. His back slammed into a tree, making him bend backward into a parenthesis shape before falling onto his face. _My ribs are broken. My power is spilling out. I can't maintain this form for much longer. And one of my swords broke. What is this power, and why do I feel so weak?_

Liomara approached him. "That must have hurt." He grabbed the back of Dominick's collar and brought his head up. "You're still awake? Impressive. But annoying."

Dominick spat blood on the ground in between the two of them. _"Soushiro...Musei."_ A sheet of light spouted up vertically between the two of them. It would have cut off Liomara's entire forearm if he hadn't been so ridiculously fast. "I'm not done yet." Dominick slowly got up again.

"Chill." Liomara told him. "Your ribs are broken. You won't be able to move fast enough to touch me."

"I don't...have to." Dominick retorted. It hurt to breathe. He then pointed the tip of his remaining sword at Liomara. _"Ka...me...ha…"_ An energy ball began to form right outside the tip.

"A new attack?" Liomara asked. "Or is this the _Kamehameha?_ Your dad said something about you learning this at a really young age."

_"...me...HAAA!"_ The blast wasn't its normal light blue color. It was pure white. And it was much, much faster. It hit its target in the blink of an eye and exploded on impact. Dominick placed the remaining sword in the ground in front of him to keep himself from falling.

_"Usakuro."_

Dominick suddenly was paralyzed. _What is this feeling? It's so familiar...but so...scary. Is this fear? No, it's a certain type of fear. Something only a Black Sclera could create. I can't move at all. Is it over already?_

Liomara was in front of him. Dominick didn't even notice the purple sword in his chest until blood was dripping from his mouth. "That's it, huh?" Liomara looked at him with pity. "My Usakuro is a scary attack, ain't it?" He had a black aura flaming around him. It was so heavy that his entire being seemed darker. It faded away, and then Dominick could move again. But the paralysis was the only thing keeping him on his feet. Liomara withdrew the sword from his abdomen and he fell to his knees. "You've fought for a while against my shikai, now. Any guesses as to what it actually does? As you can see, it doesn't actually make you weaker. That Kamehameha just now was nearly at a full Super Saiyan 6 power. What I took was essentially your ability to use it efficiently."

Dominick looked up at him. He didn't speak. The pain was too great. _It's over. I lost. That power inside me...it never came out._

"Do you have a guess now?" There was silence. "I guess you can't really talk right now, can you? Since this battle's already over, I'll just tell you. But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone else." He squatted down to Dominick's level and put his finger over his lips, smiling all the while. "What my zanpakuto does...is take my perception, whatever it is, and turn it into reality."

Dominick's eyes widened. _Perception? What the hell..? Isn't that too overpowered?_

"It's hard to understand at first, right?" Liomara said. "Just think of Emi. I used my shikai to keep her under control. Do you know why this worked? After years of being lovers, I was convinced that she was a loyal comrade that would never betray me. And of course, I perceived her as such. When she witnessed my shikai, that perception of her became a reality. That is also why I couldn't use my shikai on Kasae. I saw him as my comrade, but I also saw him as being independent, and very powerful. Those qualities would only have been amplified." He smiled and tapped Dominick on the forehead. "And then there's you. You three are the only ones I've ever used my shikai on. It's relatively new, actually. I only received this zanpakuto as an asauchi a little over a year ago. And do you know what preceding information I had on you from the moment we met? It was everything your father told me about you. He may have bragged about you a lot, but he only knew you as a kid. So that's all I saw you as. I never perceived you as weak. I only perceived you as a child. And that's why...you feel you can't control your power. Your reaction time has slowed down, too. And everything hurts more than it should. Am I right?"

_So...everything about me aside from my physical body and my strength...as that of a child? This is...impossible to defeat. I...let them all down._ Dominick felt the world around him swaying and the world going black. Then he heard a familiar voice, although it was the last one he expected to hear.

_Wow. I'm gone for two months, and you actually go and become more pathetic?_ Then his vision was completely black, and he was no longer in control of his movements.

Liomara stood up and raised his sword to deliver one last blow. However, before he could bring it down, Dominick, or whatever was inside him, let out a blood curdling scream. Still on his knees, his power rose significantly, even surpassing his strength as the beginning of the fight. A black aura exploded from within his body and penetrated the floor and trees around him. The aura was invading. It invaded his red hair and golden fur from the roots, turning them black. The grass around him was stained. The last place to be invaded was his sclerae. He finally stopped screaming and glared at Liomara with the same red irises. The only difference was the color surrounding them. He stood up. "So, you're the new favorite pet of Hangyaku."

"And you...must be Hotokira." Liomara said. "I was under the impression that you died a couple months back."

"I no longer go by that name. I am independent of Hangyaku, now."

"I see."

"If you'll excuse me, it seems like the kid and I have a common goal this time around. To kill Hangyaku. But his strength alone isn't going to cut it for this fight. So I'm borrowing his body for a bit."

"You think that'll make the difference?"

"Do you know where I spent the last two months?"

"No."

"I was trapped in a portion of Dominick's zanpakuto that he expelled from himself roughly the same time that I was defeated. That Hikari Seigyo didn't realize that part of himself was still inside Dominick's body. While I recuperated in that part of his zanpakuto, I trained my ass off. Trust me. I'm much more capable of killing you than that kid was."

"I would love to see you try to follow through on that." Liomara said.

Dominick's body flew at Liomara with incredible speed. The two fought with only one sword each now. They quickly removed themselves from the forest they were in and resumed fighting above the ravine where Jason had met his end. Hikari Seigyo stopped glowing white and turned pitch black. The two looked like black flames zipping around the sky swinging around black and purple blurs.

_"Usakuro!"_ Liomara called out. Dominick's body stopped in its tracks as Liomara's black aura became much more dense than before. He lunged at his opponent with speed that could not be seen by the naked eye. When he went to attack, he found his sword parried by a blackened Hikari Seigyo. "What?!"

"You forgot that I'm also a creation of Hangyaku." Dominick's Black Sclera smiled. "Did you really think that attack would work on me?!"

"My bad." Liomara smiled uncomfortably. "But it doesn't matter. I'm still way stronger than you."

"Then try this. _Soukuro Musei!"_ A sheet of pure black energy shot out of Hikari Seigyo's blade. It held way more raw power than any _Soushiro Musei_ that Dominick ever fired.

Liomara's eyes widened with concentration as he jumped out of the way. He watched as the black energy zipped past him with frightening speed. That was a mistake. The _Soukuro Musei_ was nothing more than a distraction. Dominick's body was already right behind him, ready to slice him in two from his groin to his head. He realized this just in the nick of time. The blade missed any part of his body, but he watched as his hat, with the bill sliced in two, fell to the ground below. "Aw, my hat fell off." He turned around with a crazed look in his eyes. "I really liked that hat, too." _What the hell is this? He's no longer being affected by Kagamichi. Does Kagamichi not work on Black Sclerae like myself? Or is it because, since he is a Black Sclera now, I no longer perceive him as a child, but as an actual opponent?_

"What's wrong? You're hesitating."

_And this fighting style, too. It's the exact same as Dominick was when we first started fighting here. Was he here the whole time? I can't afford to play around any longer._ Liomara held out his free hand, still keeping a nonchalant smile on the surface. From his palm, thousands of small black energy balls poured out at lightning speed toward his opponent. Dominick's Black Sclera blocked the first couple, but then was hit. Once he was hit the first time, it was like a domino effect. He was immobilized was the tiniest fraction of a second, but that was all it took to be hit again, and then again and again. The barrage continued without any sign of stopping. Dominick's body was continuing to take more and more damage, and it did not start off in the greatest state.

_So soon? Hangyaku really outdid himself this time._ Dominick's Black Sclera thought. _If wonder if this is his strongest creation._

"What do you think of this?!" Liomara shouted. "Can't move, now, can you? This has nothing to do with fear given to us by Hangyaku. This is pure power!"

_To think...I would have to use this so soon._ Dominick's face grew a smile. "Bankai!"


	40. Black Sclera

_Chapter LXXXII: Black Sclera_

"Four days?" Soriyamo laughed. "It didn't take me that long to beat that chump. I may have walked around in the forest for a little bit, but I definitely was only gone for a couple of hours."

Soriyamo, Martin, Rari, and everyone else in the room looked at him in concern. "If that's the case," Shirako said, "then who do you suppose is fighting with Liomara right now?"

Soriyamo's smile faded. "Dominick is fighting him. Why did you let him fight alone?"

"Pay attention to his power level." Shirako said. "It may not seem all that great to you, but he is undoubtedly a Super Saiyan 6 now."

Soriyamo's eyes widened. "Since when did he…"

"And Martin achieved that form as well. You didn't feel the flux in their power levels, did you?"

"No, I didn't."

Rari stood up. "What are we saying here?"

Martin spoke up this time. "Essentially, there's only two possibilities. He was either somehow unconscious for four days, or...his memory was artificially erased."

"The second one wouldn't explain why we couldn't find his energy at all." Shirako replied.

"It could be...that he was in another dimension." Martin muttered.

"Another dimension?" Kaoren asked. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? That's nonsense."

"No, it's not." Martin said. "I think I almost ended up in that dimension after I fought Taoshin. It was very dark, but there was a massive plane of grey sand that extended forever. It was like I was viewing from above, and it seemed like it was spinning."

Soriyamo leaned against a wall and laid his palm over his forehead. "That place...seems familiar. But not from any recent memory."

"That was a really vague description." Rari told him. "How do we even know it was the same place?"

"I don't know for sure." Soriyamo responded. "But it triggered something in my head. And we can't ignore that."

"It probably has to do with Hangyaku." Martin grumbled. _And probably Mr. Rievere, too._

"Hangyaku!" Soriyamo exclaimed. "That was the name of the guy I fought."

Everyone looked at him with concern again. "I thought his name was Shimoria." Rari said. "The Water Wielder, right?"

"No, you're right. But I did fight someone...named Hangyaku."

"You fought Hangyaku?" Martin asked, suddenly invading Soriyamo's personal space. "He's the one behind all of this. What does he look like? How strong was he?"

"I only vaguely remember, although it's slowly getting clearer." Soriyamo told him. "I only remember...a navy blue cloak with really tall collar...and a weird sword with three blades."

"Was he strong?" Martin pried.

"I don't know. But I remember...losing."

* * *

Dominick woke up in his backyard. The sky was still black. That worried him. He thought Hikari Seigyo called him there. But Hikari Seigyo was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was as if Dominick was looking into a mirror. Although...he knew exactly what he was looking at. But he didn't know how.

"Yo...it's been a while, Dom."

Dominick couldn't form words in his mouth. How could this be? He defeated the man in front of him already. He expelled him from his body. How was it that he could be standing here, in Dominick's unconscious?

"What's wrong? Don't recognize me? Or is it...that you're scared of me?"

"How...how are you here?"

"How am I here? I live here."

"But...I killed you."

Dominick's mirror image laughed in his face. "I told you this, but I guess it never got through your thick skull. I _am_ you. You can't ever kill me except by killing yourself. In which case, I'll stay in your body, and continue to the afterlife, like we have done."

"But...you left my body, and I cut you in half." Dominick protested. "I don't understand."

"If I am the same being as you, why would it make sense that we would be able to exist apart from each other?" He asked with a smile on his face. "It's completely impossible. If I were completely expelled from your body, I would have died instantly."

"But that means…"

"Exactly. You didn't expel all of me from within yourself when you were fighting Shihebi. It was about 75% of me, to be exact. Do you know what else that means? When we fought two months ago, and you barely beat me by using up your life energy, I was not at my full power." Two black, guardless blades appeared in his hands. "In these blades, is where I stayed for two months, extremely weakened by our fight. That is why you never noticed me. This is the part of Hikari Seigyo that he thought he'd thrown out, expelled like you thought you had expelled me. But, unfortunately for the two of you, that's not how it works. You can just purge a part of yourself. I just doesn't work. Even if you manage to get rid of a part of it, or even most of it, it will always come back. Sure, people change, but when it comes down to the roots, they'll always be the same person. Just like you'll never get rid of me."

"You bastard." Dominick put his hands on his blades. Somehow, the left one was now intact.

"You _are_ scared." The Black Sclera said. "Don't worry. I'm actually still a bit weakened from two months ago. It takes a while for me to get to full strength. It would have taken me a lot longer, but you decided to help me out."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you pulled that sword out of the ground. I know exactly what you were thinking. Draw the one that was the most familiar. But you didn't realize that I'm much more familiar to you than your zanpakuto."

"Where _is_ Hikari Seigyo, anyway?" Dominick asked.

"He and I...we had a little _chat."_

Dominick face contorted into anger. His body felt light. He wasn't injured in his consciousness. "What did you do to him?"

"Exactly what I said."

Dominick suddenly turned into a Super Saiyan 6. "Don't play that shit with me. I haven't forgotten what you've done to my family. As many times as it takes, I'll beat you down again and again. I'll never let you regain your full power."

"I don't need my full power to defeat you." The Black Sclera also transformed into a Super Saiyan 6.

Dominick showed a little bit of surprise on his face. "I should have known as much." They suddenly lunged at each other. Blurs of white and black moved all throughout the backyard of the house that Dominick used to live in. The two seemed evenly matched. The two of them were essentially having two different duels with each blade. No matter what happened, no matter how hard one of them slammed against a wall or into the ground, the scenery did not change at all. It was as if they were trapped inside of an invisible box that was impossible to break. Those were the boundaries of his subconscious world.

The Black Sclera knocked Dominick back into some bricks that held together a small planter a couple feet above the ground. The bricks didn't budge, and Dominick's back basically bent backward around them, knocking the wind out of him. The Black Sclera jumped toward him with both blades pointing downward. Dominick rolled out of the way just before the blades struck the bricks, creating a mess of sparks. "You fool." The Black Sclera muttered.

The two stood still for a moment, giving Dominick time to catch his breath. _Even at this handicap he's at, he's still overpowering me? Just how strong is this guy at full power?!_ The Black Sclera launched at him again. Dominick wasn't fully prepared. One of the blades grazed his cheek. He winced, not out of pain, but out of the anticipation of pain. It didn't actually hurt. Was it because this was his own subconscious? He remembered when he was dying just an hour ago. His lungs were in pain, despite being in this space. That wasn't it. Could it have been the adrenaline? Fear? He didn't have any time to think about it more. Pain was a distraction, and he didn't have that distraction this time around. He settled for that.

_"Soukuro Musei!"_ The Black Sclera shouted. A large sheeted of blackness shot out toward Dominick.

_Kuro?!_ Dominick ducked under the attack. It flew right over his head and disappeared into the fence surrounding the backyard. Not cut was made in the boundary. It was like it passed through without actually touching it. "There's no way that copy...is stronger than the original!" Dominick shouted. _"Soushiro Musei!"_

"We'll see about that! _Soukuro Musei!"_ Both attacks used both blades. Four total sheet of energy shot through the backyard at once. The black and white collided into each other and shattered instantly. Dominick found himself much more tired than his opponent, however. "I could win by tiring you out." The Black Sclera said. "That would be the safest way to play it. But we don't have time for that."

"I won't tire out, and I won't lose." Dominick protested. He was desperately trying to convince himself. He couldn't let himself be taken over. Not again.

"Sure, I won't let you tire out, but you will lose." He said plainly. "You'll see soon that that will be the best way to go about things."

_What is he thinking? This is for my benefit as well? Like hell. I won't let him win._

"Bankai."

_What did he say?_ The blades in his hands turned completely black, and merged back into one. His reiatsu was then multiplied by a factor of ten. The new sword he held in his hand had a golden hilt, and a thin black guard that extended up in a slanted cylindrical shape about a couple centimeters. The blade was a disturbing color of blood red, with an even deeper red aura, in the same goopy form that the light blue aura took when it spilled off of the base form of the zanpakuto. _Ban...kai?_

"Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo." He twirled the red blade in slow circles. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. I spent two months trapped in here, training my ass off. But it was pretty easy for me. After all, I'm part - ahh, I almost said too much. Not that I'd get in trouble for it anymore, but it might be good to keep as a secret."

_That's...my bankai. I don't even know what it does. It's...small. It's like a normal sword._

"What's troubling you? Do you want to see what this does?" The Black Sclera asked him. "Watch closely. _Soukuro Musei: Tsukasaba."_ He simply held the sword out in front of him, and turned it on its side. A red sheet of light shot out from the tip. It started very thin, but quickly spread out. It spread all the way out, too. By the time one second had passed, red energy was firing out in the shape of a ring with the Black Sclera standing in the middle. It was much, much faster than in shikai. But Dominick still was able to jump up and dodge it. _"Soukuro Musei: Nejire."_ The red light bent upward, and converged into a single point.

_What? It's so small now._ Dominick thought. _And it's coming right for me. It could be a thin, sharp thread meant to cut me in half. But since it's coming for me, the intent is to stab me. I have to avoid that at all costs._ He felt the infinitely small thread of light grow ever closer to him. He moved out of the way at the last second, and slice the thread in two. _Just as I thought. It's hard to see, but easy to cut._ But something was off about that thread. There was some sort of emotion flowing through it. But from such a short moment, he couldn't discern the nature of the emotion. He flew down toward his mirror image. The two of them locked blades as soon as Dominick hit the ground.

"Smart move, dodging the thread like that." The Black Sclera said. "You were right to guess that the battle would be over as soon as it stabbed you. That's the main difference between our shikai and our bankai. When Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo stabs someone, he absorbs all of their light, including the faint bioluminescent light people produce by just being alive. In other words, being stabbed means you die, no matter where it is." Their blades were still locked. Despite Dominick's surprise at how his bankai worked, he was more focused on the emotion running through the Black Sclera's blade. Or rather it was the lack of an emotion that he was expecting to be there. The Black Sclera had absolutely no desire to kill him. In fact, his mind was one someone else entirely. In addition, there was a desire not to kill him. He didn't know how those two emotions played into each other, but they were stronger than any other that he felt.

Dominick jumped back. He took a fighting stance, but it was only pretend. _Will he kill me? He asked himself. That desire to keep me alive is unmistakable. And I won't get anywhere if I keep fighting him like this. I have to take a chance._

The Black Sclera lunged at him. Dominick kept his fighting stance until the last second, when he dropped his blades to the floor. It was too late to stop. The red blade ran all the way through his heart. But it didn't hurt. Just like getting cut earlier didn't hurt. And he didn't feel his "light" being removed from him, either.

The Black Sclera exhaled as he let go of the golden hilt. "You're a smart kid. You read my emotions from my blade, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"I partially lied about the power of your bankai earlier. What getting stabbed by Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo actually does...is it brings about a transfer. A transfer of anything having to do with light. Light is energy. Whatever the transfer involves is up to the wielder. The victim has no say in the matter. That's why I could forcefully transfer your light into me if I wanted."

Suddenly, Dominick felt a large amount of power flowing into him. "What...do you hope to gain through this?" He asked the Black Sclera.

"This time around, whether or not you believe me, we have a common goal. I want to kill Hangyaku. I can't do that if you die here."

"So that's it…" Dominick muttered. _That's the other person his mind was on this entire time._

"This time, I'm letting you use my powers in order to win this fight." He said. "When the time comes to fight Hangyaku, I will be using your powers, and I will finish it myself."

Dominick sighed. "I still don't forgive you for what you did to my family, but I promised myself earlier...no matter what it took, I would defeat any opponent that stood in the way of me killing Hangyaku. So I'll accept your power. And I won't let you use my powers without a fight when the time to kill Hangyaku comes."

"We'll see...when the time comes...who will be stronger...that's how we'll decide...who gets to finish the job." The Black Sclera turned into a purple mist, then was absorbed into Dominick's body.

"No matter what...I'll be stronger when the time comes." Dominick said aloud. It was another promise to himself.


	41. Dominick vs Liomara

_Chapter LXXXIII: Dominick vs. Liomara_

As if once wasn't enough, everyone in the house felt Dominick's power spike twice. The first time was when the Black Sclera took over his body.

"This power...I have to go over there." Martin said. "Dominick's in real trouble, now."

"Wait, why?" Rari asked. "His power has risen, and he's shortened the gap between himself and Liomara."

Soriyamo shook his head. "No, this power...is similar to Liomara's. They both feel familiar, and in an unsettling way."

"It's the Black Sclera." Martin explained. "From what I know, these Black Sclerae are created by Hangyaku and inserted in a body, and they basically try to take over from the inside out."

"That's why Liomara has been doing all this…" Shirako muttered.

"That man needs to die." Martin said. "He has no regard for others in the slightest. He tore apart Dominick and his brother, and he even messed with Lisa's family."

"Not to mention that he almost tore Kasae from us as well." Soriyamo stated. He had been blamed for Liomara's disappearance this whole time.

It wasn't even thirty seconds before they felt Dominick's power level sharply rise for the second time. The change in power level was greater the second time around. This time, everyone stared in the direction the power was coming from.

"That bastard…" Martin sighed. "Where does he get all of this power?"

"He went and surpassed us all." Shirako smiled. "Right now, his power may even be greater than Liomara's."

"Who knew, in just these two months, these kids would make such great strides? Two of them have already reached Super Saiyan 6, and the other is meditating to reach complete Mystic Form." Soriyamo exhaled. "This is how those veterans felt at the tournament, isn't it?"

"I won't get complacent." Rari declared. "Dominick and I were totally equal when we met him. I'll be damned if I let him leave me behind."

"He's already done that." Kaoren said, laughing.

"Then I'll just catch up. If he can get stronger that fast, then I'll just do it faster!"

"I believe in you, Rari." Lisa said. She had awoken amidst all of the commotion.

"Lisa!" He exclaimed. He bent down and squeezed her tightly. "I'm so glad you're awake."

"I'm glad you were here when I woke up…" She responded. "...But you're squeezing too tightly."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, letting go of her. She sat up and smiled at him. "When we were fighting Emi, I wasn't sure if we'd make it out. Lisa, if I had to keep existing without you-"

She suddenly turned toward the direction that the huge power levels were coming from. "Is that Dominick who's fighting my brother?" She asked.

Shirako nodded. The mood changed in the room. "Not too long ago, Kasae was beaten to near death." He motioned to the unconscious body on the floor.

"No, I'm wrong." She said. "That's not my brother out there."

Martin nodded. "Hangyaku has full control over him, now. Dominick has no choice but to defeat him."

"No, no. I have to go save him. I have to save Liomara." Her voice grew frantic.

"Lisa, wait. You're putting yourself in danger by going out there now." Rari grabbed her arm as she tried to get up and leave toward the battle site.

She turned around and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Rari, but I don't really care." In this moment, she didn't care in the slightest about what might happen to her. The only thing on her mind was saving Liomara. Rari let go of her hand before realizing he did so. She didn't look back when she ran out the door. "Lisa, wait…" She was already gone. Shirako stopped him from following her. They all knew not to get in her way. Hangyaku had already messed with her family enough.

Rari felt sick to his stomach. Letting her go was hard. What if she didn't come back? What would he do without her?

* * *

"Wait, how long has passed since I entered my subconscious?!" Dominick shouted as the world he spoke of faded back into the real world.

_Thirty seconds, that's all._ The Black Sclera responded. _Time flows a lot faster in your subconscious world._

Then, he was in the real world again. He slowly exhaled. He looked down to see his own bankai in his hands. His fur was also black, which almost caught him off guard. His appearance was still that of the Black Sclera, but he had now regained his consciousness. "This is what bankai feels like...it's weirdly heavy, but also weightless at the same time."

_Right now, you are a lot stronger than Liomara. But you can't wait around to finish him. I released our bankai for you, but your soul isn't the one who achieved it. It'll weaken over time, and eventually you won't be able to use it until you master it yourself._

"Got it." Dominick muttered. "No playing around."

Liomara took a step back. He was breathing rather heavily. Just what had the Black Sclera done while he was unconscious? "Are you back?" He asked. "That damn Hotokira was a lot stronger than I thought he was. But I was still stronger."

Dominick noticed that he'd gained a couple more wounds on his body. They hadn't rested for a single second when he was unconscious. But, what he noticed more was the insane amount of energy travelling through his body. His power had more than tripled since accepting the Black Sclera's blade. His confidence rushed back into him. He remembered Kasae's, Shirako's, and Martin's words. They believed in his eyes. Now they could believe in his power as well. The Black Sclera didn't have to tell him. He already knew he was stronger than Liomara. And he also knew he had to end it as soon as possible. Ideally, it would be one strike. "This is it." He told Liomara. "This is the power I've held within me this entire time. Since I was only five years old." He let out a deep yell and let out all the power he possibly could. It all bubbled to the surface.

The power spike was much greater from Liomara's perspective. He took yet another step back. _No way...how did he get this strong?_

Dominick suddenly lunged at him. Liomara lost sight of him for an instant. Just an instant. But it was enough to shift his perception, the most important aspect of this battle. Dominick's power suddenly rose again. He reappeared in front of his opponent. Liomara barely brought his purple sword up in time to block Dominick's downward strike. _Did I just...perceive for a second...that this kid was stronger than me?_

_"Soushiro Musei: Tsukasaba."_ Dominick removed his blade and pointed it at Liomara's throat. Not knowing what would come next, Liomara jumped back. The ring of red energy formed around him and extended outward at lightning speed. Liomara jumped up to avoid the attack, again, just barely. That was exactly what Dominick wanted. _"Soushiro Musei: Nejire."_ The ring distorted into a point, and a single, dense string of red energy flew up toward Liomara.

_This is bad. It's time I bring this out._ "Bankai!" He yelled. Suddenly, the entire ground turned into one giant mirror. "Meikoboro Dokuna!" Dominick, noticing the change in the ground below him, panicked and cancelled his attack, leaping up into the air with Liomara. The purple sword in his hand began to glow red. Liomara smiled at him. _"Soushiro Musei: Nejire."_

_What?!_ Dominick gripped his sword tightly in front of him. _That's...the attack I just used._ The red string already left the tip of the sword. Before Dominick even had a chance, the attack pierce his chest. His stomach dropped. Did he just lose? Was it over? Was he going to die? But...nothing happened. The energy dissipated and he was still just fine.

"Did that scare you?" Liomara asked. "The fact that you're seeing this right now means that I've recognized you as some that my perception won't work against. That means I think you're really fuckin' strong, kid. My bankai is my zanpakuto's way of apologizing for being so shitty. It takes my own perception of my opponent's attack, and allows me to use it myself."

Dominick sighed. That explanation was relieving. _That explains why I'm not dead. He doesn't know about the light transfer ability, so he can't use it against me._

_"Soushiro Musei!"_ A red sheet of light quickly shot at Dominick, which he blocked with his own red sheet of light. "Ah, I knew it." He said. "Surprised? You haven't used that attack in bankai form until now, but I made the assumption that you could, and it worked. What do you know?"

"This won't change the outcome of the battle." Dominick growled.

_Hey, you should probably hurry it up. I'm having a hard time keeping our bankai intact._ He heard the Black Sclera's voice in his head. He didn't think he would be able to get used to working with someone he hated so much, but his anger toward Hangyaku was enough to keep him going. Dominick shot at Liomara in midair. The two of them clashed blades over and over. Dominick was just trying to stab Liomara one time. He knew, at this point, the _Soushiro Musei: Nejire_ wasn't going to work, since his opponent was now able to take advantage of the long range of the normal red _Soushiro Musei._

The gap between their powers was also closing as well. Liomara was still growing weaker, but Dominick was growing weaker at a faster rate. In only a matter of a couple of hours, his power level had increased about 30 times over. His body was struggling to hold it all in. Super Saiyan 6 was about the maximum he could hold while keeping control over all of that power. If he didn't end it soon, then Liomara would. And the signs were already showing that it would happen.

Liomara rushed in and broke Dominick's defenses. He sent his left fist into Dominick's cheek and sent him flying. _"Soushiro Musei!"_ He yelled again. With his backward momentum, Dominick couldn't dodge. It was at this point that he found there powers were equal. He was too late. He concentrated a majority of his energy into the line on his stomach where the attack was about to hit. The cut was still deep, and Dominick ended up using a lot of energy.

His vision spun for a little bit. He now found it hard to catch his breath. _No...no...I can't lose. I can't lose now…_ He looked back up at Liomara and was surprised by what he saw. The man who had just practically cut his stomach open looked like he was in pain. Then it subsided. Liomara lunged at him again. He went to swing his sword downward upon Dominick's head, but again, froze in pain for just a moment, letting Dominick narrowly escape the attack.

"Damn you, you punk!" Liomara said to someone who was not present. That was wrong. It was Liomara's Black Sclera that said that. That's right. That's who Dominick had been fighting this whole time. Then man that the Black Sclera was talking to was Liomara, the real Liomara. Inside, some part of him was still resisting. Maybe, seeing Dominick's power gave him the strength to resist even harder, even if it was just for a moment at a time. It was unclear. "Just let me use your power!"

_I don't have a lot left in me, kid._ That confirmed it. It was the same voice coming from Liomara's mouth, but this time it was in Dominick's head. It was actually Liomara this time. _I have one last push in me. I've been trying to weaken him this whole time. That's why his power has gradually grown weaker throughout the battle. But once I'm out of juice, it'll go back up to its original strength, and then you'll stand no chance. You have to do it in one blow. I can't see you, but I can get a sense of when you're about to attack. This one has to finish the job._

"That works perfectly." Dominick said, smirking. _What an entirely different voice._ Dominick thought. _I can see why my dad was such good friends with this guy._

Dominick lowered himself to the ground while Liomara stayed in the air. "What do you think you're doing?! Giving me the high ground is a stupid idea!"

_Yeah, it is. This wouldn't work if I didn't have the confidence that I can end this in one blow._ Liomara lunged at him, starting the exchange that would decide everything. First, Dominick concentrated everything he had into his legs. Then he jumped off the ground, using every muscle in his legs to their fullest. The speed surpassed what originally slipped through Liomara's frame of vision. That was just child's play. This was real speed. He zipped past his opponent, and suddenly, he was the one with the high ground. Liomara turned around as quickly as he could with a scowl on his face. Dominick was already rushing back down at him. Both of them knew that this was it.

As Dominick grew closer with insane speed, Liomara pointed his sword directly at his opponent. _"Soushiro Musei: Tsukasa-"_ He winced in pain again. The pain was greater than the last two times. He was temporarily immobilized. It didn't last long. He began moving again before the blade entered his body. But all that mattered was that it did enter. It barely pierced all the way through his lower left oblique.

Liomara's power suddenly returned with full force. He winded all the way back and planted his fist in Dominick's jaw. But Dominick held onto the sword. He had to keep it where it was, no matter what. As they fell, Liomara laughed. "You failed, kid! You lost! After all that, you still couldn't even hit a vital spot...it's over."

But then the mirror that covered the ground below shattered. Liomara could no longer keep his bankai activated. "Yeah, I know it's over." Dominick said.

"STOP!" A young woman cried from the ground. It was Lisa. Dominick made eye contact with her, then looked away, squeezing his eyes shut. They both hit the floor hard.

"What...did you do..?" Liomara stammered as he struggled to breathe. Now, he could no longer maintain a Super Saiyan state and reverted back into base form.

"That was my Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo's real power. If it completely stabs anything, no matter what or where, it can extract all of the energy from it in the form of light." He explained. "This battle is over. You will lose all of your energy to me and you will die."

"NOOO!" Lisa wailed as she sprinted over to where the two of them were. Dominick looked over at her with pity as she approached.

"Lisa, I-"

"Thank you...Dominick…" Liomara muttered.

Dominick looked down and his eyes widened. For the first time that he had ever seen, Liomara's sclerae were white.


	42. The Secret of the Past

_Chapter LXXXIV: The Secret of the Past_

"So you're...Liomara." Dominick muttered.

"That's..right…" He said. "Just like you said...you saved me…" Then he turned to Lisa, who had tears streaming down her face. "Lisa...I'm so sorry. I really am...but don't blame Dominick. From the time Hangyaku took my body over, I was already dead."

"Don't talk…" She cried, buried her face in his chest.

"Dominick…" Liomara managed. "I'm going to die, anyway. Enough light has been removed from me that there's no way I can recover. Please take your zanpakuto out of me, and let me tell you...many things you may need to know going forward."

Dominick agreed and removed the sword from Liomara's body. Suddenly, his zanpakuto reverted back into its normal state. "Please, tell me anything you can."

"That man...Hangyaku...is part of an army of some sort. I'm not sure of the name...but he was bragging about how he'd just earned a position of power. And I think...they serve the Father of the Dark."

Dominick's eyes widened. "You mean..._the_ Father of the Dark? The one that brought about the Great Power Extinction?"

"I don't know about all that…" Liomara muttered. "Even Hangyaku was doubtful as to whether or not he really is who he says he is...apparently he doesn't show his face to anyone."

"I'm not sure...if that's true, then all of the things that Meiryu told me back when I was alive...would make sense as well."

"Hangyaku also told me...that he follows orders from one person only. That man's name...he only referred to as Rinjiko." Liomara said. "But be careful around both of them...As it is, neither of us would have stood a chance against Hangyaku." He then began coughing as speaking became a more difficult task. "One...last thing…"

"What is it?" Dominick asked.

"I was...the only one...to see your father...die." Liomara managed. "You need to know...what happened...and you need to know...that the hope of seeing him again...isn't lost." Liomara then extended his fingers up to Dominick's forehead.

Dominick felt his mind being drawn into the fingertips of the man lying in his arms. He wanted to fight that feeling at first. It was new and weird. But he came to terms with it. This was a chance to see his dad. Even if they couldn't talk, just seeing his appearance, for the first time in 14 years, excited him. He let the feeling overcome his conscious.

When he awoke, he was in a house. It was similar to the house that Soriyamo and the others lived in, expect it was smaller and the inside was lit with dim golden candles. There were three people in the main room of the house. One of them was a woman with dark, caramel-brown skin and black hair and a black kimono. Dominick wanted to cry. It was Emi. The lump in his throat was almost too much to bear. No matter how annoying he felt it was at the time, he wanted her to nag at him again, trying to act like his mother. The next person he saw was very skinny with an almost abnormally long neck. He wore a purple flat billed hat and a purple jacket covering a loose fitting grey shirt. His dark brown hair spilled out of the back of his hat, but it wasn't as long as Dominick was used to. That man was Liomara. The last person...it seemed like he'd never met before, but he knew exactly who it was from the moment he saw him. He had shaggy light brown hair that fell down the sides of his face and what was almost a beard spread across his face. He wore a dark grey shirt and a white scarf around his neck. His blue eyes stood out the most. The same blue eyes that Dominick was born with. This man was Jason Fiscalini.

* * *

The golden lit room had a solemnity hanging from the ceiling, like it was creeping down and would sneak its way into the back of their shirts.

Jason leaned forward. "Shinrou said that his old master has a new student. And as far as we know, that master is the link to what's behind all of this. These disappearances, deaths, and famine and all of the other Universes that we are just now shedding light upon...he has a connection to it all. And this new student of his...according to Shinrou...is here, in otherworld."

"And we're the only ones that know of these atrocious acts going on in the other Universes?" Emi asked.

Jason nodded. "It's all thanks to my wife. Her telepathic abilities are off the charts. She can literally speak with anyone in the entire Omniverse as long as she's spoken to them before."

"So, what are we going to do with the chump here in Otherworld?" Liomara asked.

Jason smiled at him. "Well, we have some questions to be answered, right?"

Liomara chuckled. "Hell yeah."

"Wait, you guys aren't planning to go right now, are you?" Emi asked, worried.

"No, we'll give it at least a couple of days." Jason responded. "We just have to make sure he doesn't leave before then."

"Emi, don't you have to get home?" Liomara asked. "Jakio and the other boys are waiting for you, right?"

Emi saw the time and jumped out of her seat. "That's right. We need to train and then eat before it gets dark." She ran over to Liomara and pecked him on the lips. "Love you, I'll see you later." She ran out of the house.

"Yeah, love you too." Liomara called out. Then he looked at Jason, who nodded back. It was like they could read each other's minds.

"It's not that I don't trust Emi's strength," Jason muttered, "but we're talking real fucking powerful guys here. The guy who taught Shinrou, the Naga of Otherworld. His new student, who may be just as strong as Shinrou."

"Yeah, I know."

"We'll head out as soon as it gets dark."

But it was dark before they knew it. They ventured outside, looking for a fight. They needed the answers to their questions. Something dark was going on behind the scenes, and the rest of the Universes were paying the price for it.

The house was located northwest of Grand Kai's place. There was a small forest just north of the house, and to the south there was a big lake that was literally only a couple meters behind the Tournament arena. When Jason and Liomara left the house, they headed straight for the forest. There was a presence lurking near the southern edge. They approached with caution, although it seemed familiar. A familiar face stepped out from behind a tree. He had slicked back silver hair that grew more spiky as it got lower on his back. He had four purple stripes on his face, two on each cheek, and his eyes were an icy light blue color.

"Shinrou." Jason said. "How did you know we'd be out here tonight?"

"Come on." He replied. "Why wouldn't you chase after him the first night? I want to help."

"With your help, we're basically unstoppable." Jason smiled.

"Let's go kick some ass." Liomara said anxiously.

"Follow me." Shinrou told them. "I think I know where they are."

The three of them ran into the forest. Strangely, the density of trees was higher near the edge than in the center. Eventually, they came to a point where there were no trees, like a bald spot in the forest. A scrawny man with bright pink hair flew out into the opening from a denser part of the forest to the east. He landed on one knee, then slowly stood up in a dramatic fashion. He had a little bit of a crazed look in his eyes, which were slightly different shades of brown. His ears, which were half covered, had three rings in each. His hair was the weirdest part about him. When he was moving, it just looked like a pink blur behind his head, but now that he was still, they could see how it fell on his head. On the left side, it fell down, but was rather spiky in doing so. Strands of hair often strayed from the flow of the rest of it. On the right, his hair was combed and cut perfectly like a bowl cut. As he stood up, his baggy clothes undid their wrinkles and fell lower on his limbs. "Yo…" He muttered. "Kurugu Hifukawa, here. My friend is a little slow, so I'll introduce him shortly."

"What a lame entrance." Liomara sneered. "And that hair too...totally out of style."

"What'd you say?" Kurugu retorted.

"You heard me."

"Well, you are rather lame, Kurugu. But I could say the same about the rest of us. In a way, our very existence is lame." Another man strutted out into the bald spot of the forest. He was much more muscular than Kurugu, and wore a tight white shirt that accentuated that. He wore a light blue tank top over his shirt and loose grey sweatpants. His looked like they had sunk all the way back into his skull; lifeless. Above his sunken eyes was a piercing in each eyebrow. He also had one in his left nostril. His blonde hair was no more than mere stubble on the top of his head, except for one rectangular strip in the middle, which wasn't much longer than the rest, but long enough to fall forward a little bit.

"Johen, you're ruining the mood like always." Kurugu complained.

"Shut up. Let's just deal with them like we were told." Johen responded.

Liomara stepped forward. "You guys go ahead. I know damn well these fuckers aren't the who we're looking for, but I can easily hold the two of them off myself."

"You rock, Liomara." Jason said. "Let's go, Shinrou. Lead the way." Shinrou nodded, and the two of them took off.

"I don't think so." Johen went to impede their path. "I just told you what our orders were."

_"Usakai."_ By the time the words slipped through Liomara's teeth, he was already a red blur. That blur ran into Johen and knocked him into a tree. The red blur turned back into Liomara. "I said that I'd deal with you two myself."

"Oh, Johen, you got hit!" Kurugu called sarcastically. "Does that mean you're unable to fight, and that I'll have no choice but to fight him myself?"

"Whatever." Johen muttered. "I don't really feel like fighting. I'll just pretend to be passed out so I don't get in trouble."

"Sounds good." Kurugu smiled. "Hear that?" He asked Liomara.

"I'm not deaf." He replied. "I need to beat you both quickly so I can go rejoin Jason and Shinrou."

"If that's the case, then we should probably get started, yeah?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Jason and Shinrou headed northeast out of the bald spot of the forest. They were moving at an incredible speed, until Shinrou suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "Did something happen?"

"There...are two power levels now." Shinrou replied. "One of them is that new student you're looking for...and the other...is one I have business with myself."

Jason looked ahead. After a pause, he muttered, "handle what you need to. And I'll handle what I need to."

"Keep going straight." Shinrou told him. "It seems like he's waiting for you."

Jason nodded, then Shinrou shot off even farther north. Jason watched the Naga disappear into the forest. He wanted to go after him. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He just got an awful feeling. He decided to swallow that premonition and push on forward. He headed east and the trees got thicker and thicker. And then suddenly, they abruptly stopped and he found himself floating above a ravine, at the bottom of which was a river flowing south. It likely flowed into the lake south of the house they were staying in. He stared down at the river for a little, then looked up. What he saw was a face he hadn't seen in almost thirteen years. "You..?"

Hangyaku was standing on the other side of the river. "Hey." He said. "It's been a little while, huh?"

"What...are you doing here?" Jason demanded. "Why...why won't you leave my family alone?!"

"It's not really my choice." Hangyaku told him. "But you have to understand...your family is pretty important. We need your son's power to combine with my power."

"Leave my son out of this!" Jason yelled. "Why is he so important to you, anyway?"

"Listen, and understand." Hangyaku said in a preachy manner. "Your sons...for the first time in 50,000 years...both of them have the potential to become what the Saiyan race has dwindled from in its prime days. I'm sure you've been keeping up with their progress, with your wife's telepathic powers and all. Didn't you find it weird how, within their first 15 years of life, they had already ascended to Super Saiyan 4? The last time that happened was well over 200 years ago, and the man who achieved it was over 40 years old. Didn't you find that weird?"

"What are you trying to say?" Jason growled.

"The three of them, not only your children, but Martin as well...they are what we've been waiting for. The active genes of the original Saiyan race run strong in their blood. If nurtured properly, they will, without a doubt, have the strength of a Makara Warrior one day. And that's why, when that happens, we want them under our control."

"Who's this 'we' you keep talking about?" Jason asked.

"We...we who have been in the dark for as long as I can remember...and I have only been there for about 300 years. We exist at the very bottom of the Omniverse, below the radar of anyone that could possibly stop us. We'll silently build our powers from the ground up. No one will realize it until it's too late. We will win, and you will lose. It's already a given." Hangyaku let out a long sigh. "But it's not like you'll be able to tell anyone this. From today on, you'll be joining us permanently at the bottom of the Omniverse."


	43. Sun and Moon

_Chapter LXXXV: Sun and Moon_

Liomara and Kurugu shot at each other. Kurugu threw an uppercut at Liomara which made solid contact and sent him flying back into a tree. "How'd you like that?!" He laughed as his pink hair swayed in the wind. "Johen, you saw that too, right?" His comrade barely acknowledged him by moving his head.

Liomara grumbled as he stood back up. "Damn, for such a skinny guy, you sure are strong. I may have to go all out."

"Of course I'm strong!" Kurugu yelled. "How else do you think I've climbed to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant?!"

"Quiet down, Kurugu." Johen muttered. "It took you over a thousand years to get there. And Hangyaku became a First Lieutenant in only 300."

"Don't even get me started on that, punk, Johen." Kurugu scowled. "He only climbed that fast because Akamusa treats him like his little pet."

"He's still stronger than either of us." Johen said matter-of-factly.

The two of them turned their heads when Liomara suddenly transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. At the time, this was his full power. "Why are you guys acting like I'm not here? I'll kick both of your asses."

Kurugu smiled at him. "Hey, the moon's pretty tonight, isn't it?"

"You idiot." Liomara spouted. "There's no moon in Otherworld."

"There will be. There will be a bunch of them." Kurugu extended his hands out with his palms up. _"Kimika Jiten!"_ He shouted. Yellow energy bubbled into his palms, then shot up in the form of several crescent moons. They started rotating faster and faster until he threw them all at Liomara.

Liomara responded with his own rapid fire energy attack. Although it was a generic energy blast, it did its job in neutralizing the spinning crescent moons flying at him. He also didn't have a sword or the use of the purple clouds at this point either. He lunged forward, aiming to end the battle quickly. He wanted to close in before Kurugu had the chance to attack him again. In only a couple steps, he was already inches from his opponent. He dug his fist into Kurugu's stomach and twisted it. Kurugu stumbled back and coughed blood onto his chin. _He's a 2nd Lieutenant? What does that mean? Is he part of an organization? Are they behind all of this?_

"I knew it." A voice said behind him. It wasn't Kurugu or Johen. He looked behind him, but he already knew who it was. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Emi, why are you here? We didn't want to put you in danger, you know." Liomara responded.

"Come on." She complained. "I'm the leader of the Elemental Wielders. I can handle myself if I can order around a bunch of muscular guys."

"I know you can handle yourself." Liomara said. "That's why I love you. But it's because I love you that we didn't tell you. We still have no idea what kind of guys we're going to have to fight. I'm pretty sure these guys are just the decoys." She looked at him with unwavering eyes. He sighed. "Can you take the big guy by the tree then?" He conceded.

"Of course I can." She said.

Johen stood up as Emi walked over to him. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a girl." He told her. "That would get me in trouble."

"You'd regret it for other reasons." She said. She then lifted off the ground and drew her zanpakuto. "Let's go up. I don't want the others to get in our way."

Johen obliged without speak and flew up with her. When the two of them were completely above the forest, they stopped ascending. "I hate fighting at night." Johen muttered. "I would rather be bathing in the sunlight."

"To be honest, I don't really care." She retorted. "If it's true that you guys are behind all of the suffering in the other Universes, I'll just kill you here."

"That would be a pain. I'd get in trouble if I died." He muttered. All of a sudden, his biceps and forearms bulged, stretching the white shirt to its limits. "I have the power of a star within me. When the heat from another star shines light onto me from the outside, it creates...a sort of balance. When it's dark like this, the heat within me struggles to get out." His body began to glow, than all of that light was concentrated into his fists. "Before I defeat you, I will tell you my name, woman. I am Johen Tocheihk, the Star of the second Universe."

"Universe 2, huh?" Emi muttered. "You're the first I've met from that Universe. I'm Emi Sasaoka, by the way. Leader of the Elemental Wielders."

_"Leuchten Stern Faust."_ He lunged forward and swung his first downward. He missed Emi by a mile as she moved backwards. All of a sudden, yellow flames shot forward from the path that his fist followed. Her eyes widened as the flames approached her body. At the last second, he jumped to the right and the attack barely missed her body. Those flames were ridiculously hot. "Nice job dodging that." He commended. "Next time will be different."

"That caught me off guard." Emi exhaled. "Looks like I'll have to be serious. Rise and become my shield, Boreigoku Seigyo."

* * *

"At the bottom of the Omniverse?" Jason questioned. "Is that even possible?"

"You'll find out, won't you?" Hangyaku drew his golden, triple bladed sword. A purple aura swelled around him. "Soon enough, you won't be a concern of ours anymore."

"Is that a zanpakuto?" Jason asked. "Is that one of the last Seigyo zanpakuto?"

"Oh, you know about zanpakuto?" Hangyaku smiled. "Well, you're right that it is a zanpakuto, but it is not from the Seigyo family. This one's legit. It was no failure, and I came straight from Universe 3. Unfortunately, we don't have much in the way of directly offensive attacks, so I rely on pretty underhanded strategies."

"Aren't you going to release it?" Jason asked.

"But it's already released." Hangyaku said. "It's always released. If it wasn't released, I wouldn't be standing here right now."

"What do you mean by that?" Jason demanded.

"Don't worry about it. Now, come on. I know you can't be as weak as you were when I took your life thirteen years ago."

Jason scowled. "Well, you're right about something, too." He relaxed all of his muscles and exhaled slowly. A pillar of white energy shot up around him. It stood in silence for a second then shattered. When Hangyaku laid his eyes on Jason again, his appearance had entirely changed. His hair was now spiked up and flowing in the wind, and his irises had turned gold. It was Mystic Form, but different from what Dalton had used in the past. Normally, his irises turned silver. Not only that, but the strength that Jason held was now on an entirely different level than Dalton's Mystic Form. It was definitely stronger than Liomara was as a Super Saiyan 5. "What's your name?" Jason asked.

"It's Hangyaku."

"Hangyaku...I'm going to kill you." He said. "Comparatively, I'm not the same person as I was thirteen years ago."

Hangyaku readied his sword. "Yeah, I know."

They jumped at each other. Hangyaku swung his sword from the start, putting Jason on the defensive right away. Since Hnagyaku had a weapon and Jason didn't, Jason was put in a similar situation to the first time they'd fought. Only this time, it was much easier to evade Hangyaku's attacks. In fact, it didn't even seem that Jason was trying much at all.

Hangyaku swung his sword sideways trying to cut Jason into four clean pieces. He jumped up and did a backflip to dodge. Hangyaku jumped up with him and soon surpassed his height. He then swung down as hard has he could. Jason moved to the right and hit the flat edge of the left blade, sending Hangyaku's momentum to the left. He then quickly closed in and put both of his hands at his left hip. _"Kamehame…"_ He had to be quick. He extended his hands out toward Hangyaku's face. At that moment, Hangyaku smiled. _"HA-"_

With his left hand, Hangyaku created a purple cloud. From that purple cloud, many sharp spikes pierced out in every direction. Jason was struck in three places: his right shoulder, his left oblique, and his right thigh. The energy in his hands dissipated and he fell to the floor. "You almost got me." He lowered himself to the ground and approached his opponent lying on the floor. "You did get stronger, but I guess it wasn't enough. If you haven't noticed, I've only been messing with you this whole time. Did you really think my attacks were that slow? I was only going fast enough to not give you a chance to attack." He shoved the middle blade into Jason's back. "Look at you. You're getting your ass kicked by a First Lieutenant. I know how you're all fired up to get answers out of us or whatever, but if I can beat you, did you really think you'd have a chance against the Captain?"

"Captain?" Jason managed between sharp breaths. "What kind...of organization...are you?"

"What kind? I'm not even really sure of that myself." Hangyaku said. "I would tell you to remember the name, but you're going to die, anyway. We are Shinden Kokuto. We are the manifestation of the Father of the Dark's will."

"The Father of the Dark...is he the one causing all of the suffering in the other Universes?" Jason stammered.

"I don't know about all of that." Hangyaku told him. "I was placed in this Universe to take over Dominick's body. But if I had to guess, I would say the others are probably enacting some sort of conscription."

"Like a draft?" Jason asked. "What are you guys, an army?"

"I don't know, man." He complained. "Stop asking questions. Rinjiko said we just need really strong people but wouldn't tell me why. I did hear they found a pretty insane band of assassins not to far back, though. I hear a lot of rumors. But I did hear...that at least two of those assassins...are former Makara Warriors."

* * *

Liomara kicked Kurugu into a tree again. "I'm ending this now." He said. "I need to catch up with Jason and Shinrou already."

Kurugu scowled. His face was completely bloodied and his left arm was broken in two places. "Don't think you can beat me...I'm a part of Shinden Kokuto! I can't be beaten by a loser like you! I've worked too hard...to die here…" He began to rise into the air. _"Kimika Jiten."_ In the sky, a huge golden-yellow crescent moon formed. "I'll kill you! I have to fight alongside Master Akamusa!" He raised his right arm and with a downward motion, sent the giant attack flying down at Liomara.

"Don't...waste my time!" Liomara shouted. He put his palms out in front of him and red energy began to form there. Suddenly, a giant red light pierced the sky and ricocheted off the giant crescent. _Shit...there's more power in that thing than I thought. He must be desperate._ That was when he felt Jason's power level drop significantly. Anger welled up in him. He couldn't waste any more time here. His best friend was now in serious danger while he played around with small fries. Jason's power level dropped again. "No!" He shouted. "I won't let this happen!" Jason's power level was dangerously low. Then it dropped some more. Something snapped inside of Liomara and his vision warped. His power was increased for the time being, so he didn't care. He let all of that extra energy out into his attack and the crescent moon shattered as if it was nothing.

Kurugu staggered back in fear. Liomara didn't care anymore. "No...your eyes...stop…" There was another flash of red energy and Kurugu fell limply to the floor.

"Emi!" Liomara yelled. "I'm going to where Jason is! Don't follow me, no matter what!" He didn't wait for a response. He took off. He'd never moved this fast. _Please let me make it in time…_

Emi heard his voice, but didn't respond. She had already made up her mind to follow him. And she also knew that she couldn't spend much longer fighting this man, either.

"Damn...Kurugu died." Johen muttered. "That's too sad. He'll get in so much trouble." He said it with a flat voice, but his eyes had also darkened. "I'll have to make up for him so I don't get in trouble myself." _But there's nothing we can do at this point. She's going to win._

The blood of sinners dripped off of Emi's blade. Johen was injured, but showed no sign of slowing down. In fact, he was way more injured than any human should ever be. He'd already been hit with the black flames of pain more than a couple times. He showed no pain. "Just die already." She muttered. "You're one stubborn guy."

"I'm not really stubborn." He replied. "There's just nothing for me to be stubborn about. I don't feel any of it. You told me that those flames were made from pain, but I just don't feel it. After years and years of torture at the hands of those elves, nothing really hurts anymore." _Those damned elves, who think they're the superior race of Universe 2. I swear we'll show them._ "Shut up. I don't care about them anymore."

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Emi demanded.

"Don't worry about it." Johen replied. "My feelings don't have a place in this battle. My feelings will get me in trouble. It's not the physical pain I hate, it's the mental pain. When someone tells me I did something wrong, it hurts my brain. I don't get it. Why would I do something wrong? I've been trained my whole life to do everything right. It just doesn't compute in my brain...how could I do something wrong?"

"Well, you've already done a bunch wrong." She told him. "But this time, it'll cost your life."

_She's right. Why are you trying? You've done everything wrong. We should have killed those elves a long time ago. We should have had our revenge. But it's too late. She's too strong._ "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He screamed. Two balls of blue flaming energy filled in his hands as rage filled the emptiness in his eyes.

Emi backed up a little. _Not good. The blue flames are way stronger than the yellow flames were._ "Bankai!" She yelled.

Suddenly, Johen froze completely and the energy disappeared. _Now look what you did. You've fucked us both. We're really going to die, now._ He couldn't retort this time. He couldn't form words in his mouth. _Looks like not feeling pain was our weakest point after all. You couldn't even notice that the repeated attacks from her flames drained virtually all of your energy. And now we have none left. You're pathetic._

Emi realized what had happened. Those blue flames were probably composed of entirely life energy, and the amount of energy in them was way too much for anyone to handle for more than a couple seconds.

_Damn...I'm going to get in trouble._ He thought. As his life force withered, the flames within him erupted and engulfed his body. The last thing he saw before the flames killed him was the moon, Kurugu, lying on the ground, motionless. He never hit the ground. He incinerated himself in midair.


	44. Afterlife Zero

_Chapter LXXXVI: Afterlife Zero_

Dominick had been viewing the events unfolding from a perspective removed from the scene as if he were a god, but after Johen and Kurugu's deaths, he suddenly found himself seeing through Liomara's eyes directly. He was flying through the forest until he came out above the river. What he saw was an image that was stained into his head for the rest of his life. Even if the Black Sclera eventually took him over, Liomara never forgot.

"Ah, you came." Hangyaku said. "I actually wanted you to see this, so it's perfect. You're the whole reason we came to Otherworld, anyway." He was holding an extremely bloody Jason by his scarf. His entire body was limp.

Liomara lost it. "LET HIM GO! I'LL KILL YOU!" He lunged at Hangyaku. Hangyaku didn't respond in the slightest, as if he knew what was coming. Suddenly, he dropped to the ground. A black curtain began to close over Liomara's vision. It was as if it was a parasite, creeping into his conscious. He was fading.

"Good timing." Hangyaku said. As he watched Liomara struggle. "Today was the right day to come."

"What...did you do to me?" Liomara demanded. He held his palm over his left eye as if he was expecting some black substance to fall out of it.

"You're asking that now?" Hangyaku sneered. "What I did to you...that happened like 30 years ago. My creation has just finally grown powerful enough to overtake your body."

"Your...creation..?" Liomara stammered between gasps.

"Our purpose in coming here was to retrieve you." He explained. "And to take out your meddlesome friends while we were at it."

"What...would you need...something like me for?"

"Beats me." Hangyaku shrugged. "I was given two missions. One was to capture Dominick, Dalton, and Martin. The other was to make sure that you fight Dominick, whether that be before or after I capture him."

Liomara felt an even greater pain in his chest. It was like his lungs were burning to try to keep him from going unconscious. But it wasn't working. He was still fading. At this point, he couldn't even hold himself up on his hands and knees. His face his the floor. He dragged it forward, ripping open skin on the little pebbles in the ground. Then he let out a scream as his vision faded completely to black. "JASOOOOON!"

Then he was gone. All he saw was black. All Dominick saw was black. This space was too familiar. He wanted to leave. And thankfully, he did.

When Liomara awoke, Hangyaku was gone and it was quiet. It was too quiet.

Jason was sitting alone on a rock near the edge of the cliff that led down to the ravine. Apparently, it had started raining while he was unconscious. It never rained in Otherworld. "Jason…" Liomara muttered.

"Liomara, you're finally awake." He said quietly.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Liomara asked. "Why are you just sitting there?"

"I'm just waiting for you, Liomara."

"Why? What happened to that guy you were fighting?"

"I lost." Jason said. "He got away."

"That's not true." Liomara replied. "You're still here, so that means he failed to kill you."

Jason turned around and gave Liomara a look of pity. "No."

"What do you mean?"

"I am only here to relay a message to you that my brain just can't let go." Jason told him. "But this body...at this point, it's no more than an empty shell. That man, Hangyaku, did kill me."

"No, that can't be true." Liomara grabbed Jason's shoulders. "You can't die again. If you do, your existence is erased forever."

"That's why I have to ask this of you and Emi." Jason said. He grabbed Liomara's hand. "When my kids get here, and knowing them...it may be sooner than later...I want you to watch over them. Train them to become stronger than I could hope to be. I know they have it in them. Please...treat them as your own children."

Liomara found that tears were dripping from his chin. He knew it was true. He couldn't sense a single drop of energy from Jason's body. Through pure will, he maintained his form just long enough to relay that final message to his best friend. And then his body was gone. It faded away into the night as any trace of his existence in Universe 7 disappeared.

"I promise...I'll make them stronger than any of us could imagine."

"Liomara, what happened?" Emi emerged from the forest to the west. "Where is everyone? Why are you alone?" She asked. The rain masked his tears now. He turned to face her and sent chills down her spine. "Liomara, your eye…" Now, he maintained his own consciousness, but the Black Sclera was still showing clear signs of its presence. The sclera of his right eye was completely black.

"Jason died." He said.

She covered her mouth. "No way…"

He looked at her seriously. "He left us with the most important mission of all." He said. "It was made painfully clear tonight that we're no match for whatever organization these guys were a part of. That guy that killed Jason...was a Lieutenant. That means there is at least one captain who is stronger than he is." But then he smiled. "Jason...left his kids in our care. Until his Dominick and Dalton get here, let's go dormant. Let's disappear and train on our own. We'll make those boys stronger than any of us could ever hope to be. And...we'll raise them as our own children. That was his request."

She was crying. He went over to hug her. "Can we raise them together?" She asked him. "Can we be like a family?" She was trying to take her mind off of the fact that Jason was gone.

"Yeah." He told her. "If we weren't dead already, I would have started a family with you a long time ago."

"I've always wanted to be a mom."

* * *

Dominick was suddenly ejected from Liomara's mind, and he found that his face was wet. _Emi._ Why was he thinking about Emi so much? Why did seeing her make his heart ache so much? She just wanted to be his mother. He missed his mom. He missed his mom a lot. He missed Emi. And the tears wouldn't stop. He clutched his chest as he doubled over and began crying aloud. _Why does it hurt so much?_

Lisa was crying too.

"Lisa, come here." Liomara croaked. She came closer and he pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you for being here."

"Liomara…" She cried. "I don't want you to die."

Then, Liomara looked at Dominick. "I wasn't much of a stand-in dad for you, was I?" He chuckled. "I'm really sorry. But I'll tell you this...and I know your real dad feels the same way. I'm fucking proud of you. You were able to save me by expelling the Black Sclera from my body. Turns out...I didn't need to train you to be strong after all. You were already stronger than any of us could have imagined." He extended his hand out to Dominick, and Dominick took it. They squeezed each other's fists as hard as they could.

Dominick's face was still stained with tears, but his eyes showed determination. His sclerae were now white. "I swear I'll become even stronger. I will defeat Hangyaku."

"Somehow...I know that… already. And...I know...you'll meet your dad one day, too." Liomara told him. "Don't worry about us...I know now...death in Otherworld...is still not the end."

Dominick smiled. "Yeah, I know. It's never the end."

Liomara chuckled again. "You're a good kid. I can rest easy...leaving it in your hands." His body started to fade. "Lisa, Emi...and Kasae...and Jason, too. I love you all." Then he was gone.

Dominick put his hand on Lisa's shoulder as she cried. It was over. It was only beginning. Lisa looked up at him. "When you fight Hangyaku...promise me that you'll take me with you." She told him. It was more of a command than a request.

He looked at her concerningly. "We'd better train like there's no tomorrow if we want to have a chance at beating him."

She nodded. Then the tears started coming again and she buried her head in his chest. Dominick gave a sad smile. _She really does remind me of Ichimei. But wait...if Liomara was supposed to be another father to me...wouldn't that make her my aunt? Ah, whatever._ He relaxed the slightest bit, and it felt like all the remaining power left his body. The world started spinning and he fell over backwards.

"Are you okay?" She asked after removing herself from his chest. She was clearly embarrassed.

"It looks like...I'm out of energy." Dominick laughed. "I can't really move."

"I'll help you." She said. "Use my shoulder." She got up, grabbed his arm and lifted him to his feet, then put his hand behind her back. Slowly, they began to walk back to the house where everyone would be waiting for them.

They stopped upon coming across a dirtied purple hat lying on the ground. "That was Liomara's." Dominick muttered. "It's the only physical thing he left behind." Lisa didn't say anything. "What do you want to do with it? Do want to keep it?"

"I wanted to bury him." Lisa said. "But since his body disappeared, I think we should bury the hat instead."

"You don't want to keep it as a memento?"

She smiled. "I already have something like that."

Just then, almost ten people came running out of the forest, shouting. It was their Saiyan friends. Soriyamo, Shirako, Waichei, Rari, Martin, Kaoren, Yosuhiro, and Nyoriyo. Their faces lit up when they saw Dominick and Lisa. Except Rari's.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY LISA!" He yelled as he ran at Dominick.

"Oh, shit." Dominick said under his breath. At this point, he could at least stand on his own. Or so he thought. He let go of Lisa's shoulder and immediately started stumbling.

Rari tackled Lisa in a hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!" He shouted.

As Dominick began to fall, Martin caught him and eased him to the floor. Dominick crossed his legs and sat on the floor, leaning forward so he didn't fall back. "Thanks, Martin."

Soriyamo walked up to him. "You're insane." He said. "Did you defeat Liomara?"

Dominick nodded. "That's all that's left." He pointed to the hat on the floor. "Lisa and I were just about to bury it."

"That's a great idea." Shirako said gently.

Dominick nodded again. Then he smiled at Soriyamo. "I did it. I'm ready for you to train me."

Soriyamo laughed. "You idiot. What good do you think I'll do for you? You just surpassed me today. I can't train you anymore. From now on...you, me and Shirako...we'll all be rivals."

"I like the sound of that, too." Dominick replied.

"As do I." Shirako added.

Dominick looked down at his sword. _For now, I think it's best to keep my bankai a secret. Just until I can use it on my own._

Waichei picked up the hat off the ground. "What are we waiting for, then?" He asked. "Let's bury this hat, shall we?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

The hole had been dug right by the edge of the cliff overlooking the river. Lisa was the one that lowered the hat into the grave. Dominick covered it back up and put a wooden stake in the mound of dirt. Most people didn't stick around for long. Even Dominick headed back to the house with Martin. Lisa was the last one, and Rari stayed because he wanted to be with her.

"Rari…" She asked. "Will you train me to become stronger?"

Rari looked at her. "You seem determined."

"I am." She replied. "I have to become stronger than Liomara was...or else I can never avenge him."

Rari was almost scared. Lisa's eyes...those were the eyes of someone who was prepared to throw their life away. But he couldn't tell her no. "Lisa. I love you." He said those words without thinking. "So I'll train you. But you have to promise me not to die."

She smiled at him and put her head on his chest. "I love you too."

It felt good for him to hear that, but at the same time, it scared him. That wasn't a promise. She couldn't promise him.


	45. Separate Paths

_Chapter LXXXVII: Separate Paths_

Six days had passed since the Liomara incident. It was now the twentieth of March. On top of a mountain, even further north than the northern forest, Dalton sat completely still. He'd subconsciously been keeping track of time. And he was completely aware of his surroundings. It had taken all of his will to not go help Dominick and Martin against Liomara. But he trusted them. And he felt when they achieved Super Saiyan 6. That made him happy. Deep down, he didn't want to end up leaving them behind when he realized the completed Mystic Form.

"Sakumi. You came." He opened his eyes.

"Of course I did." She smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." She was already sitting right in front of him. "It wasn't hard to convince Ichimei to bring me here."

"I wouldn't imagine it was too hard." Dalton replied. "Anyway, I'm really glad to see you."

She was wearing a backpack, and from it, she pulled out a basket full of small sandwiches. "I made us food so we can have a picnic!" She exclaimed.

Dalton's eyes lit up. "You made all this? That's awesome." she set the basket between them. "You're really independent, aren't you?"

"You're the only one I need."

Dalton's heart felt like it was melting. "I love you so much."

Sakumi giggled and leaped over the basket into his arms, knocking him down. She wrapped her legs around his lower back and started kissing his neck.

"Sakumi, are we even going to eat?"

"Shut up, I'm loving you."

"I want to try your cooking, though." Dalton muttered. "I've never eaten something that you've made. I promise we can do whatever you want after we're done. We have a whole hour, after all."

"No one's going to come up on this mountain, are they?" She said with a smirk.

Dalton looked away as his face turned red. "No, we'll be alone."

"Then let's hurry up and eat. I want as much time as I can get."

"You're especially forward today."

"You have no idea how hard it was to go a whole month without seeing you."

"You've done it before."

"I don't care."

Dalton laughed. "I'm really happy you're here now, though."

"You've really become more honest with your feelings." She told him.

"Meditating does that to me." He responded. "After the two years are up, I'll probably go back to normal."

She smiled. "I don't mind."

Dalton found himself forgetting about fighting. He was glad things had calmed down. He was happy to be spending time with Sakumi without a worry in the world. Maybe he really wanted to settle down...but he knew it wasn't over.

* * *

Mr. Rievere stood at the edge of the eastern forest where he and Martin first met. "I knew you'd come back." He said.

Martin had a very determined look on his face, but he was also being a little secretive, making sure no one knew who he was talking to. "Just Super Saiyan 6 isn't strong enough." He said. "I need you to train me to death. Dominick and the others are just pulling ahead. I have to be able to fight with them in the final battle with Hangyaku."

"Is that it?" It was as if Mr. Rievere was reading his mind. It was as if he knew everything.

"No, it's not." Martin's face grew dark. "When Dominick was fighting, I felt a power coming from him that was unsettlingly familiar. I'm almost certain...that power is the same as the Black Sclera."

"That does seem like trouble." Mr. Rievere told him. "And it's true that none of you guys are a match for Hangyaku right now."

"How would you know that?" Martin asked.

Mr. Rievere laughed. "I'm the informant. It's necessary that I know everything about my allies and my opponents."

Martin lowered his brows, but followed the man anyway as he walked into the forest. _But which is which? Am I an ally or an enemy?_

* * *

Ichimei and Rika waited inside the house for either Dominick or Martin to return. Sakumi went straight to the mountain where Dalton was at, so they were left by themselves. Most of the residents were out or underground. Dominick and Martin were in the former group. Shirako was tending to any injuries or fatigues for Kasae that were left over from his battle. He was almost completely healed at this point, but it was still painful to move around sometimes. Dominick was in the same predicament, and so was Waichei until a couple days back.

Eventually, Dominick walked through the front door followed by Rari and Lisa. Ichimei stood up and ran over to him. Rika stood up as well, expecting Martin to walk through the door.

"Ichimei!" He exclaimed. "I missed you!" She jumped into his arms and he almost fell back. His muscles still weren't at their best.

"You got hurt again, didn't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did." He replied. "Sorry. But thanks to that, I'm stronger than I ever was before." He closed his fist in front of his face. "And I'll keep getting stronger until I can take out the leader of that organization...Shinden Kokuto."

"Umm…" Rika spoke up. "Is Martin around?"

"He's not here?" Dominick asked.

"He left this morning without saying anything." Shirako told them. "Lately, he hasn't been joining Sairyo and I for training."

Dominick rub his hand on his chin. "I'm sure he's found his own way to get strong. When we met before I fought Liomara, he felt different somehow. It was like he was an empty well waiting to be filled with energy. I may have been sensing his potential. I get the feeling that he's going to make incredible strides within the next few years. I can't afford to be left behind."

Suddenly, Soriyamo poked his head through the door. "Hey, are Dominick and Martin here?"

Everyone looked in his direction. "I'm right here, but we don't know where Martin is." Dominick said.

"Oh, well. Come with me. Oh and Shirako, too. He asked for you as well." Soriyamo to them.

Shirako stood up. "Kasae, is it alright if I go?"

"Yeah, I can pretty much move freely now." Kasae mumbled. He wasn't the same after learning of the truth about Liomara. His aggression toward Shirako and Soriyamo had subsided, though. He didn't really have it in him to apologize. Not yet, at least.

"Hey, can Ichimei come?" Dominick asked.

"I'd rather she didn't." Soriyamo said. "Kashito wants to talk to you guys, and he says it's pretty important."

"Well, when will we be back?"

"I'd say it won't take more than an hour."

Dominick turned to Ichimei. "Is it alright if I go without you? I know didn't really get to talk much, but I'll be back soon."

"Yeah, don't worry about me." She responded. "I have Rika to keep me company." Rika wasn't in the mood to be company. She just wondered where Martin was.

"Let's head out, then." Soriyamo declared. With that, the three of them were on their way.

Dominick couldn't fly very fast, so it took them a couple minutes to get to Kashito's place. Everyone said the Naga lived inside of the Grand Kai's palace, but they arrived at a small wooden shack just north of the main entrance. Kashito was waiting for them inside. Kujako was there as well, but he didn't look too good.

"How's it going?" Kashito asked them as they walked in.

"It's been a while, Kashito." Shirako acknowledged. "Is there anything I can help with? I'm assuming that's why you called me here."

"Yeah, actually." The Naga replied. "You see, Kujako had his IT bands slit during his fight with Liomara and that's not something I can treat with my limited knowledge of healing. It was all I could do to close the wound on the surface and prevent the bleeding, but he still can't walk at all."

"I can handle that." Shirako said. "I should be able to have him walking by tomorrow or the day after. The fatigue will probably last another week at most."

"You're a lifesaver, Shirako." Kashito smiled. "I'm sure Kujako would appreciate it if you started right away."

"Of course." Shirako bowed to the Naga. There was a clear demonstration of respect, but it was done in an informal manner. They were friends first, after all.

"Now, Dominick." Kashito turned his attention to the youngest of the room. "I wanted to talk to you about two things. First, I want you to become my student with Kujako. You have a lot of untapped potential, and I know a thing or two about zanpakuto. It's a shame that Martin couldn't make it, since I wanted to train him as well."

Dominick's stomach jumped. _Training with the strongest man in Otherworld?_ "Of course I'll be your student." He smiled.

"I'm glad." Kashito responded. "But the second thing I wanted to talk about is a little more serious."

"What's that?" Dominick inquired.

"Liomara, the man you defeated six days ago...was nothing more than a pawn to a man named Hangyaku. I'm sure you knew that already."

"Yeah, I did." Dominick replied. "I also found out that Hangyaku is a Lieutenant in an organization called Shinden Kokuto."

"You've done your share of information gathering, too, I guess." Kashito said. "But, as you know, the existence of a Lieutenant implies the existence of a Captain. And I know the name of this captain, as he was the former master of my cousin Shinrou, the first Naga. His name is Rinjiko Akamusa. I'm telling you now, if you get into a fight with someone calling himself Akamusa...run."

"Is he that strong?"

"He took Shinrou's life with ease. So easily that the others didn't even notice when it happened. He hardly had to call forth any of his power. It happened on the same night Jason died. But no one knew. They just never found his body, so they assumed he disappeared. I did too, until Akamusa told me himself that he was dead."

Dominick swallowed slowly. There was a Lieutenant: Hangyaku. And now there was a Captain. Akamusa. Stronger than Hangyaku. With authority over Hangyaku. And Hangyaku already seemed like a big enough threat. Then there was the question of whether or not they were serving the Father of the Dark, or just his will. He felt like they were completely in over their heads.

* * *

That night, Dominick didn't sleep, despite how tired he was. He couldn't keep himself from thinking about the name Hangyaku, and the name Akamusa. Ichimei's head lay on his chest. He stroked her hair with his right hand as his left hand clenched. She was sleeping so peacefully. If anyone were to destroy that peace…

Dalton had gone back to meditating a long time ago, and Sakumi chose to stay the night on the mountain. All of the sandwiches were gone, and she muttered incoherently in her sleep while Dalton maintained complete focus.

Martin quietly did push ups on one finger with his feet pointed directly in the air. Mr. Rievere slept while slumped against a tree. Martin refused to sleep. It would take away from the time he had to get stronger. He had to keep training. Sweat dripped from his nose as he counted out one thousand in his head.

But there was one more person awake in the middle of the night, creating no commotion except inside of his head. He strode toward the western edge of the northern forest and toward the cliff overlooking the ravine with the river flowing at the bottom. He stood above Liomara's grave. "So, you were killed. That's unfortunate. I wanted to be the one to perform the act myself." The man said. He was dressed in tight clothes with a sort of chest armor that was protruding at the shoulders. His long, dark brown hair flowed in the wind. "But that's alright. You weren't the only one I wanted to cause suffering in the world. You weren't the only one who stole zanpakuto from their rightful owners." He gripped a normal looking katana in his right hand. "I swear, I will make you all pay."


	46. Visit

_Chapter LXXXVIII: Visit_

"TWOOOOO DECADES!" Dominick shouted first thing in the morning in Kashito's little shack outside of Grand Kai's palace. It was now July 14. Four months after Liomara's death, and Dominick's twentieth birthday.

"Shut up." Kujako muttered. "Do you know how early it is? And besides, you know you don't actually age when you're dead, right?"

"Yeah, and you don't age if you play video games all day, either." Dominick retorted.

"I'll kill you."

"It's too late for that." Dominick laughed.

"Settle down, boys." Kashito said as he entered the room. "Dominick, you have some visitors."

Behind him stood Ichimei and Jeannie. "Happy Birthday!" Ichimei yelled as she ran into the room and almost tackled him with a hug.

"Ichimei, you came!" Dominick replied. "And...Mom, too."

Ichimei smiled. "I figured you'd at least want your mom to be here on your birthday."

Dominick looked and made eye contact with his mom. She looked at him almost longingly. "Yeah." He said. "Thank you." He stroked Ichimei's hair and smiled at his mom as she approached him.

"How have you been?" Jeannie asked him. "That's a little bit of a morbid question isn't it? Even though I knew that by having kids with Jason, they'd inherently be put into dangerous situations, I didn't expect you to die twice before you were twenty."

"I know." Dominick responded. "I'm sorry."

"How is Dalton? Is he here, too?"

"Dalton is training on his own. He's up on a mountain pretty far north of here meditating, and has been for the last five months or so. He's training to gain a power that dad wanted to perfect." As soon as he brought up his dad, Jeannie swallowed.

"Have you heard anything about him?" She asked hesitantly.

Dominick sighed. "I have a lot to tell you. Will you come with me? Ichimei, you come too."

The three of them went outside and all sat down under one of the trees lining the stone path into Grand Kai's palace. "What did you find?" Jeannie asked him.

"I'm going to start with the bad news." Dominick said. "Dad's not in this world anymore. He was killed again, by the same man that killed him the first time. His name is Hangyaku." Ichimei reacted to that name. That's right, he was in her dream four months ago, right before Liomara and the Elemental Duelists attacked. "I ran into his best friends a couple months ago, and one of them showed me his memories of the incident."

Jeannie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Died again..?" She muttered. "But doesn't that mean…"

"Let me get to the good news." Dominick politely interrupted. "We've also caught word that there's another dimension that souls will travel to after dying in Otherworld. Martin says that he saw that world. I probably saw it, too, and so did a couple of friends of mine, but Martin is the only one with the memories. He said that from above, it looked like a grey desert that was spinning like a disc and extended in every direction for infinity. That dimension is probably where Dad is now."

"What difference does it make?" Jeannie asked. "He's probably trapped there, and I can't communicate with him. What if the only way to get to him is to die here?"

Dominick smiled. "But it's not. That's my current theory, at least. In the memories I saw, Hangyaku said that Dad would be 'joining them' down there. And Hangyaku has come into Otherworld and into the living world multiple times. So, there's three possibilities. Hangyaku has a special ability that lets him alone travel between those dimensions, there's a way out of that dimension that Dad hasn't found yet, or there's a way to access that dimension without dying here."

Ichimei spoke up at this point. "Wait, but that Hangyaku guy didn't have a halo in my dream. Doesn't that mean he's alive?"

"We don't know." Dominick answered. "It's possible that when you die here and travel to that dimension, the halo disappears. There's no way to know because everyone we know that's died here has never come back or been able to communicate with us. And Hangyaku is actually not from this Universe, anyway, so I don't think he would get a halo even if he died. He would go to Soul Society, most likely. I'm not too sure on that one."

"And...this dimension…" Jeannie started. "Are you sure it's real?"

"No, not at all, to be honest." Dominick responded. "This is all pure speculation based on what Martin has told me and what I saw in those memories."

Jeannie lowered her head into her palms. It wasn't that she was sad. She was worried. She was stressed. She just didn't know what was going to happen.

"Mom." Dominick said seriously. "No matter what, I'll find Dad. At any cost."

"Don't say that…" She muttered. "I don't want you to end up trapped where he is, too."

"I've...already made up my mind." Dominick declared. "I'm going to find Dad, and I'm going to kill Hangyaku." He let off some anger with that last sentence. Ichimei felt that anger and became worried.

"Dominick…" She started. "I want to ask you something. And I'm sure your mom has known about it as well. It's about your Black Sclera."

Dominick swallowed when he heard that name. _Black Sclera. Does she know?_ "What about it?" He asked.

She hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know, I just thought I sensed something familiar."

_Something familiar._ Dominick sighed. _She was the one around when the Black Sclera started acting up. Should I just tell her...that it never really left?_

* * *

Something resembling Liomara hurried through the forest north of Grand Kai's palace. He had most of Liomara's features, but his body wasn't as lanky and his eyes were slightly sharper. The sclerae were also black. _Damn, damn! Shit! Why is this happening?! Just when I'm finally regaining my energy, this guy shows up out of nowhere and starts trying to kill me?!_

Following closely behind him was a burly man with a goatee, and thick, long dark brown hair flowing behind him. His heavy black armor clanked with each step, but he still moved with frightening speed. It was almost as if his armor had three shoulder plates on each side, each resting upon the next. Under his armor was something like black tights. In his right hand he held a normal looking katana. Everything about his mood spelled rage. His wide nose scrunched in anger. His bushy eyebrows were practically tied into a knot. "You're one of them." He declared. "I must take my revenge on you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" The creature resembling Hangyaku shouted back.

"You lot have stolen what is rightfully ours!" The man yelled.

The creature resembling Liomara clicked his tongue and stopped running. He turned around and drew a sword with a rectangular guard with four small spires shooting off in all directions. "Kagamichi-" A sudden pulse ran through him. It wasn't painful, and it didn't feel like he'd gained anything. It felt like he'd lost something. Something big, something important to him. Kagamichi didn't come out right away, and the man in black swung his katana downward onto the creature resembling Liomara's head. _Shit…_ As the sword came down onto him, his body turned into a purple mist and dissipated.

The man in black relaxed his muscles, believing he had won. But his body slightly stiffened once more when another humanoid body formed right beside him. The body had glassy skin that was almost see-through. Red and blue veins ran through his arms, chest and head while the rest of his body was covered in clothing. Silky silver hair fell in a top knot down the back of his head. His sclerae were black.

"You must be Kagamichi." The man in black said. Once he got a nod of assurance, he continued. "The fact that you are here means that man is still alive. My name is Jiino Hiyuka. I have given you life for the sole purpose of killing the person I've spawned you from."

"Understood. I'll get right to it." Kagamichi said.

The manifestation of the zanpakuto disappeared. Jiino exhaled slowly. "A minor setback." He murmured to himself. "I didn't plan on using this technique just yet. I wanted enough power to use it on the entirety of this world at once, and I wasn't quite there yet." He looked down at his palm. "Only nine days," he smiled, "that's how long it will take to regain the power I lost by using the technique before it was ready. In only nine days, I will bring all of those who stole from my world to their knees."

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Hangyaku demanded.

The creature resembling Liomara struggled to catch his breath and he leaned back, sitting on the floor with his palms on the floor behind him to keep himself from falling on his back. "Hangyaku...there's someone...in Otherworld...that tried to kill me. He's strong."

Hangyaku sat in a chair that was positioned down below a larger one. In the larger chair, a man with long white hair and long white eyelashes sat, resting his cheek on his fist, and his elbow on the arm of the chair. It was Akamusa. "It looks like another one of your pets has come running back to you with its tail between its legs." He said nonchalantly.

There was a bit of laughter. The creature that resembled Liomara looked around, not knowing where it was coming from. "Coming from Hangyaku, the master's pet himself, that doesn't surprise me." A voice called. But it was dark. He couldn't see who it was.

"Shut up." Hangyaku retorted. "I'm stronger than most of you here."

"Yeah, yeah. You aren't stronger than me." The voice called back. "The only reason the master has chosen you to carry out this mission is because you have that special power to create evil versions of people."

"I'll kill you if you say another word, Kakutsu." Hangyaku snapped.

"You can try, but you know I'll kick your ass."

"That's it-" Hangyaku started to stand up, but then Akamusa put a hand on his shoulder.

"That's quite enough, both of you." He said firmly. Hangyaku shuddered with fear. "I don't want arguing between my First Lieutenants. You are my strongest men. I need the five of you to work together to be of optimal use to me."

"Of course, sir." Kakutsu said in the distance. "My apologies."

Hangyaku didn't say anything. He just sat back down in his chair and sighed.

"Thank you." Akamusa exhaled with a smooth, deep voice. "Now, what is it that you came to Hangyaku for?" He looked down at the creature that resembled Liomara.

His cold stare, which seemed kind on the surface, made the creature's back wet with sweat. It seemed to pierce a hole right through him. "I...I wanted to tell Hangyaku...there's a new enemy…"

"What's his name?" Hangyaku asked.

"Jiino...Hiyuka." The creature resembling Liomara said. Hangyaku's eyes widened.

Akamusa chuckled as if he could see every one of Hangyaku's movements in the darkness enveloping the room. "A familiar name?"

Hangyaku relaxed himself and smiled. "Damn right...I haven't heard that name since before I came here."

"Who...is he?" The creature resembling Liomara asked.

"I knew him...from my days in Universe 3." Hangyaku answered. "You could say we were pretty close." Then he looked up at Akamusa. "Is it alright if I handle this guy on my own, Rinjiko? I want to settle the score."

"No." Akamusa responded. "You've already failed two of my missions in a row. You need to focus solely on bringing our three targets here."

Hangyaku clicked his tongue and looked the other way. It was silent for a few seconds, then he got up. "Come with me." He told his own creation. The creature that resembled Liomara got up off the ground and obeyed his master. The two of them walked into the darkness, and pretty soon, the creation could no longer even see his own creator. He was only following his energy in front of him. Then they stopped, and a dim light turned on. The two of them were alone in a small room clearly meant for one person. There was nothing in there except for a bed and a makeshift lantern.

"What's going on, Hangyaku?" The creature resembling Liomara asked.

"This is too annoying." Hangyaku muttered. "You're arguably just as important to the plan as Hotokira was, so I need something to call you."

"A name? I don't need anything like that. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just a mix between you and Liomara."

"No, it's for my sake." Hangyaku said. "I'll just call you Gensui."

"Okay."

"I'll be straight with you…" Hangyaku said. "You are by far my best creation. You the only one whose body actually has a memory. And that means you're the only one that can survive the death of your host. It's honestly a shame that I didn't create you fifteen years earlier when I made the being that inhabited Dominick's body. But it's no matter. Not at this point."

"What do you mean?" Gensui asked.

"I want you to bide your time." Hangyaku told him. "In the meantime, I'll be slowly feeding you energy until we're definitely ready to take them all out. We won't lose for the third time."

"Will I be inhabiting another body?"

"Not right away." Hangyaku smiled. "But when the time comes, I have someone in mind that would work perfectly. His battle power is not all that great, but by that time, your power alone will probably rival even mine. And by inhabiting this person, you will then gain the powers...of an Angel."

"Of an Angel..?" Gensui muttered. "I see. I look forward to it. But what will you do in the meantime if I'm not doing anything."

Hangyaku's smile grew even wider. "I was thinking...I might go pay Old Jiino a visit."


	47. Kashito's Training

_Chapter LXXXIX: Kashito's Training_

Three days had passed since Dominick's birthday. Ichimei and Jeannie left the day after. Everything seemed normal. Everything wrong that was happening...it was happening completely under the radar of everyone who could possibly want to stop it. Dominick wasn't the only one that was training nonstop. Martin hadn't come out of the eastern forest since he went to Mr. Rievere shortly after Liomara's death. Dalton still meditated on the top of the mountain past the northern forest. He still hadn't meditated for as long as he did when he was eleven years old. He still had 19 months until his training was complete. Soriyamo and Shirako often trained in the underground training facility. It got to the point where no one else wanted to be down there while they were training. Except for Rari and Lisa. Rari agreed to train Lisa to drastically increase her battle power. Her reiatsu was already massive; it was bigger than Shirako's, Soriyamo's, Kasae's, and Dominick's combined. If she could raise her battle power by a decent amount she could be even more formidable than her one female comrade, Sairyo. Rari frequently visited Dominick at Kashito's place to let him know what was going on at their house. The rivalry between Dominick, Soriyamo, and Shirako was quickly becoming more tangible.

Kasae wasn't around a lot, either. Part of the reason for that was because he still had trouble facing Soriyamo. He was also looking for Hangyaku, who had all but disappeared after the Liomara incident. They were strategic. They'd come up with a plan, and try to execute it. If it didn't work, they'd fall back and regroup until they had a better plan. And no one knew where their base was, or how they kept coming into Otherworld. That was what Kasae was trying to find out. And since Kasae was gone and Shirako was training with Soriyamo, Sairyo reluctantly agreed to train with Waichei. He was very persistent, and she felt like she owed him for saving her life. But his demeanor still bothered her, and she was scared that if he got riled up, his "fighting" personality would come out.

Kaoren, Nyoriyo, and Yosuhiro stuck together as usual. They also visited Dominick, but not as often as Rari did. They had stopped training in the underground facility once Soriyamo and Shirako started, but still managed to keep their sharpness by sparring in the southern forest.

"You know the rules, guys." Kashito said. They were in the tournament arena, and the only people there were himself, Dominick, and Kujako. "The goal here is to increase your base strength. No Super Saiyan allowed. Other than that, it's like normal tournament rules except for the weapons part."

"Yeah, we know the rules already." Kujako complained. "Let's get going already."

Dominick smiled at Kashito. Kujako had been training under him for a long time, but this was new to Dominick. Kashito's true powers were still a complete mystery to him. In their sparring matches, it was obvious that Kashito was much stronger than Dominick, but no signs were shown of him ever approaching his full power. "Kashito, we're sparring after this, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kashito laughed. "Just start already."

"That's what I like to hear!" Kujako was already flying at Dominick. He swung at his opponent's face with his right fist. That was always his first attack. From training together for over three months, Dominick learned to expect it. He ducked under it. Even though his base power had increased significantly, there was still no way he could take a direct punch from Kujako. After all, Kujako was the fusion of Saiyan triplets. Kashito had told Dominick when he came to train, but they still hadn't told anyone else.

Dominick lowered his body and tried to slip his leg across Kujako's ankles, tripping him. Kujako jumped up just before contact would have been made. Dominick planted his hands on the ground, turning his body away from his opponent and hooking his heel up into Kujako's jaw. Kujako clenched his teeth as his head was pushed upward. Dominick stood on his hands, then flipped forward back onto his feet. Kujako stepped back and fired two quick ki blasts at Dominick's back.

He turned around to face the attacks flying toward him and laughed. "Don't think you can hit me with something like that." He smirked and jumped into the air.

Kujako returned the smirk, then twisted his index and middle finger upward, and his ki blasts suddenly moved upward as well, as if he was freely commanding their movements. Dominick's smirk turned into a look of surprise as he saw the ki blasts following him. He stopped in midair, knowing he couldn't outrun them and that they would keep following him until they hit him. He fired two ki blasts down to destroy the ones flying up at him. On impacted, they created an explosion that impeded their view of each other. Through the smoke of the explosion, one of the ki blasts appeared and hit Dominick in the face, blowing up on impact.

Dominick grunted as he fell to the ground. He put his hand to his nose, then took it away. It was covered in blood. Kujako walked up to him and folded his arms. "Concede the match. I know that blast to the face must've hurt."

"We've been training together for three months." Dominick replied. "I thought you'd know by now...that a little pain isn't enough to make me give up."

He got up and looked at Kashito. Kashito nodded at him, and then he nodded at Kujako. A golden aura swirled up around him, puffed up like it was going to explode, then in a spectacular release of power, Dominick transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. Now, all of his clothes stayed intact without any problems. The only indicative features that it was actually Super Saiyan 5 were the red fur extending down his forearms and his golden hair falling down in front of his shoulders as well as behind.

Kujako did the same. His neon orange hair turned golden, his arms were covered in fur. "Round two?" He asked.

"Let's go for it." Dominick replied. They flew at each other again. The first hit was fist against fist. It hit hard and loud, like two trucks in a head on collision. Kujako got to the second attack before Dominick did. It was another straightforward punch with the opposite hand. To dodge, Dominick threw his head and hands back, doing a backward somersault. His face moved under Kujako's hand, and his feet shot up toward Kujako's jaw. It made contact, but didn't stop anyone. Kujako kept moving forward. He jumped off the ground and suddenly was right above Dominick, who was still coming out of his backwards somersault. He turned around and dropped his elbow into Dominick's lower back. Upon going Super Saiyan 5, the gap between their powers grew even further. Dominick winced in pain, but managed to plant his hands back on the ground to prevent his face from hitting the tiles. He turned around, then the two of them flew upward toward the space-painted ceiling of the arena. They exchanged punches and kicks the whole way up, and Dominick actually landed some punches along the way, but for every hit he did land, Kujako landed three. Suddenly Kujako stopped in midair and stood upright, then shoved his feet into Dominick's stomach, sending him flying at back-breaking speeds to the tile of the ring.

"It's over, now." Kujako muttered. The shockwave of his punch and Dominick's movement toward the ring caused his clothes to hug his skin.

Suddenly, Dominick regained composure and smiled on his way down. A red energy swirled around his left hand as his held his left wrist with his right hand. He stiffened all of his fingers as much as possible, and pretty soon, a small red energy ball formed where the red energy was. Just before he hit the ground, he threw the energy attack at his opponent as hard as he could.

Kujako's eyes widened as it zipped toward him. He'd never seen this attack before. It was way too strong for its small size. He stuck his hand out to block the blast, but it exploded on his hand and sent him flying up into the ceiling with a crash, then he fell to the floor. Now, both of them laid on the floor, panting and unable to stand up.

"That's enough." Kashito called. "Kujako touched the ceiling, which is technically out of the ring, before Dominick was down for ten seconds. Under normal circumstances, it would be Dominick's win. However, Dominick, it seems to me that you used some of the energy from your Reserve Bank in that last attack. The point of the training was to fight without using it, so you could increase your normal energy as much as possible."

"My bad…" Dominick said between huffs. "I got caught up in our fight."

"What the hell was that?" Kujako asked him.

"I learned how to make an incredibly dense energy blast using the power that fuels Super Saiyan 6. It's five times more potent that my normal energy." Dominick told him.

"That's what I figured it was." Kashito observed. "And I have to say, that is an amazing achievement, just four months after you reached Super Saiyan 6 for the first time. I'm proud of you."

Dominick smiled at those words. He'd grown more independent after Gogito's death, but it sure made him feel warm to hear words of encouragement from someone he looked up to. He was now realizing how much he looked up to Kashito. "Are you ready for our match, now?"

"Let me heal you, first." Kashito replied.

Kujako got up. "You guys are insane." He muttered. "I'm going to the bathroom. I need to shit, so don't come looking for me." This meant he was probably playing video games.

Kashito walked up to Dominick and put his hands on his chest, and Dominick felt energy flowing into him. "Hey, wait." He muttered. "This isn't fair. If you heal me, then you won't be at full strength when you fight me."

Kashito laughed. "It's awfully bold of you to think I need to be at full strength to fight you."

"It's not often you talk trash."

"I only speak the truth."

"I'm going to kick your ass, now."

The two of them laughed for a while, but then Dominick was fully healed and it was time to start the second match of sparring. The rules were the same, but this time, it was truly like a tournament match. The fighters were allowed to go all out this time, and Dominick was allowed the use of his sword.

"I'm starting at full power." Dominick said. "I don't want to waste any time. This is the fight I've been really looking forward to." A red aura billowed up around him. His muscles tensed up and bulged in every area, and with a yell, he transformed. His fur was now a shiny golden color and his hair was a deep red. He then drew his zanpakuto. "Break in half, Hikari Seigyo!" He shouted. The entire sword shine purely white, then split in half, leaving behind two short swords with no guards.

"I'm impressed." Kashito complimented his opponent. "You are definitely stronger than during our last match. You've been improving at a frightening speed."

"That's because I'm training with ridiculously strong people." Dominick replied. It was then that he felt it. A strange pulse in his soul. It was like his heart beat excessively hard, but only once. Then, Hikari Seigyo grew substantially weaker. Dominick's first reaction was to lift his blade up closer to his face, as if trying to get a better look, although it was obvious they looked the same.

"What's wrong?" Kashito asked.

"Nothing." Dominick lied. "My zanpakuto just felt lighter than usual. It must be that I'm stronger now."

Dominick chose to ignore the strangeness he felt for the sake of his fight with Kashito. Little did he know, he wasn't the only one to feel that pulse in his soul. Others included Soriyamo, Shirako, Kasae, Lisa, and even Dalton during his meditation.

"Okay, if you say so." Kashito replied. The mentor also let out his fighting power. It escaped in the form of an icy blue aura. The tournament arena suddenly became chilly. "Attack me." He commanded.

Dominick flew at him without words. The ground around Kashito froze over as his hands hardened into ice. Dominick started swinging both of his blades as fast and hard as he could, but Kashito blocked all of the strikes with ease.

Kashito slid his foot across the tiles in a semicircle and ice shot out from the line he'd drawn at Dominick. It just barely missed its target as Dominick leaned backward. Kashito then appeared over the ice he'd created and descended down onto his opponent. Dominick had only one option to defend himself now.

Kashito approached him quickly. "What's wrong?!" He shouted. "You seem out of it now!"

Dominick scowled, but that was out of habit. The scowl turned into more of a smile. _"Soushiro Musei!"_ He yelled. He swung his blades in an X-shaped path, and the white light extended that path as far as his energy would carry it. But...it hurt to release the attack. It felt as if he had to strain much more than usual to release the attack. On top of that, it was weaker than normal. Kashito shattered through the attack, which caused Dominick to fall back onto the floor. Kashito caught him just before his back made contact.

"Don't lie to me." Kashito told him. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"I don't even know." Dominick muttered. "My zanpakuto really does feel lighter, but it also feels like I'm straining a lot more to use the same attacks. It's like he's gotten weaker."

"What could have caused this?" Kashito asked him. His eyes showed true concern, like a father's.

"I don't have a clue. I think I'm going to go ask Soriyamo." Dominick answered.

_Dominick, I don't know what caused it, but I know the problem._ A voice in his head explained. It was Hikari Seigyo himself. His voice seemed troubled. _A piece of me is gone._

_A piece of you?_ Dominick asked in his head. _What does that mean?_

_Literally, a piece of me is gone. But it's not just any piece. It's the piece of me that is corrupted. The piece of me that your Black Sclera lived in for the months after Shihebi. The piece of me that was able to use bankai; the piece you were able to use during your fight with Liomara due to the Black Sclera lending you his power. The piece of me that was like my own Black Sclera...is now gone._


	48. A Pulsing Process

_Chapter XC: A Pulsing Process_

Dalton's eyes shot open. He wasn't sure what happened, but it felt as if his heartbeat just went haywire for a split second. His zanpakuto felt the same thing. "What was that?"

_Are you alright to be taking a break from your meditation?_ Jigoku Kara no Hono asked him inside his head.

"Yeah. It's the 20th." Dalton responded. "I was planning on waiting for Sakumi to get here, that's all. Do you know what that feeling was?"

_I don't know. It felt like something was being ripped out of me, but all of me is still here._

* * *

Soriyamo and Shirako were training when they felt it. It was the same thing. The pulse. They both stopped their movements at the exact same time, then stared at each other. They knew the other felt it too. The pulse came from their souls, but it came from their zanpakuto as well.

"What the hell was that?" Soriyamo asked. "You felt it too, right?"

"Yeah. I have no idea what happened." Shirako said, examining his blades coming off the back of each hand. "Yabokami Seigyo feels normal, but I feel like that pulse affected him somehow."

Suddenly, Lisa came flying over a hill in the underground training room. "Did you guys feel it too? I noticed that you two stopped fighting right when I felt a weird pulse in my heart. It felt like my zanpakuto was affected too, but he feels normal now."

"We felt the same thing." Shirako told her. "It definitely has something to do with our zanpakuto. Maybe the others felt it too."

"Who else has a zanpakuto again?" Soriyamo asked as he strained to remember. "Kasae, Dominick, and Dalton, right?"

"Yeah." Shirako answered.

"Should we go find them and ask?" Lisa suggested.

"That would work for Dominick, but we don't know we don't know where Dalton or Kasae are." Soriyamo explained.

"It wouldn't hurt to go over there." Shirako added.

Suddenly, Rari came flying over the hill from where Lisa had come. "Are we going to Kashito's place? I'm coming too. It's been awhile since I visited Dom over there."

"Sounds good. Let's head out." Soriyamo said. With that, the four of them left the underground training area. A somber mood hung over the three zanpakuto wielders in the group, and it leaked into Rari's mood. He was training with Lisa when she felt the pulse, but she didn't tell him much more than that she felt weird. For the last four months, she'd been focused on nothing more than training to fight Hangyaku. He loved seeing her determined, but he also didn't have the same grudge against Hangyaku that she did. His motivation stemmed from hers. He wanted to make him pay for making her sad. But he was also scared. He was afraid that she was too determined, so much so that she'd throw away her life if necessary. She already couldn't promise him that she wouldn't die. Hangyaku was scary, more than anything else. He was so unknown. No one knew the extent of his power, but the fact still remained that he was able to take complete control over Liomara, who was stronger than even Soriyamo. Deep down, Rari kept thinking that the only person that could possibly beat Hangyaku was Kashito. If Kashito couldn't do it, then the next best hope would be Dominick at the rate he was progressing. If Dominick couldn't do it, then there was no hope. That's what he truly believed, and he hated himself for it.

* * *

Kasae was image training by himself when the pulse hit him. He was keeping his energy as low as possible on the edge of the northwestern forest by the ravine. Only meters away from him was Liomara's grave. On top of keeping his own power low, he kept his awareness of his surroundings as high as possible so he wouldn't be found. He just couldn't face his comrades yet. Not only did he blame Soriyamo for Liomara's disappearance, but then he couldn't save his life once he was found. After seeing Lisa rush out to save her brother while Dominick was fighting him to the death was too much. When his comrades went to go see them after the fight was over, he cried. After Shirako was done healing him, he disappeared out of shame. He had to get stronger than anyone else, or else he couldn't protect those important to him. He'd have to see the tears of Lisa again, and he couldn't handle it.

He immediately threw himself back into reality once he felt the pulse. He drew Kihakuya Seigyo and examined the blade. He had the feeling something was off, but it seemed normal now. It was completely quiet in the open patch of the forest. He heard the wind move every single each blade of grass until it moved down into the ravine, where the howling drowned out all other sounds.

Then he felt a strange power coming from behind him, in the forest. It was on the way to the mountain where Dalton was meditating. It felt familiar to him, but it was hard for him to recall from where. One thing he could sense for sure, however, was that it was up to no good. He put his sword away, turned around, suppressed his power level even further, and shot into the forest to see what was going on.

He sneaked through the forest for a couple of minutes before he found anything. He must have travelled a few miles deep. When he finally found who he was looking for, his heart jumped, then his stomach dropped. It didn't look familiar, but it felt familiar, like before. It almost didn't look human. The shape of the body was humanoid, but his skin was nearly see-through. He had red and blue veins clearly visible running up his arms and through his body. _Who is he?_

"I know you." The man said. "Kasae Itsumi."

Kasae's heart jumped again. _How did he find me?_

"There's no use in hiding from me. I have my own mirrors set up all around this forest."

Kasae stepped out from the tree he was hiding behind. "Mirrors? Who the hell are you?"

"Who am I?" The man asked. "I guess it's no surprise you don't recognize my appearance. You've never seen me except in the form of a blade."

"You're...a zanpakuto?"

"That's right." He responded. "My name is Kagamichi."

Kasae immediately felt anger boiling inside him. "Kagamichi...that's the name of Liomara's zanpakuto." His rage spilled out of his body in the form of energy, and he transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. "Don't you dare mock the existence of Liomara. You didn't deserve to exist alongside him as a zanpakuto."

"It's not like that." Kagamichi smiled. "I was never actually with Liomara. I was actually created as a copy of the zanpakuto his remains wielded. Although I retain his memories of battle, my existence was created after his death."

"What difference does it make?" Kasae demanded. "You being here pisses me off."

"So, I don't have a choice but to fight you?"

"No, you don't." A golden aura spilled profusely out of Kasae's zanpakuto. "Bankai!" He yelled. A hard black sleeve formed around his right arm with a spiked shoulder pad that extended across his back to his other shoulder. A giant golden bow fell from the sky and attached to his left shoulder. After it was all done, a ring made of the same golden energy formed hovering behind his back. "Tenyo Migoto Kihakuya Seigyo."

"Impressive, very impressive." Kagamichi sneered. "I fear may get too emotionally involved in this fight. And I fear that you forget that I, too, am able to use bankai." Suddenly, Kagamichi's skin turned from a nearly clear hue to a shiny silver, and his hair changed from silver to a sickly white. The veins were now hidden under the silver skin. What struck Kasae, however, was that his pupils and irises completely dissolved into his black sclerae, leaving behind what looked like a void of nothingness, one in which he could almost see himself. The man in front of him was no longer Kagamichi. "This is what I look like in my bankai form. My name is Meikoboro Dokuna."

_"Tsunzaku Junkan!"_ Kasae yelled. The trees around him were all but incinerated by the golden arrows generated from the energy within his body. There were twice as many as when he fought Liomara. The arrows shattered on Meikoboro Dokuna's body as if they were nothing but dust.

"Impressive." The zanpakuto sneered. "But I have memories from your fight with Liomara. None of your attacks are new to me. And in case you forgot what my ability is…" His face contorted with concentration. Then, he let out a yell, and golden arrows shot from within his body in every direction.

"Shit!" Kasae cursed as he jumped back, just barely dodging the arrows of his own attack.

"Remember?" Meikoboro Dokuna asked. "I have the ability to turn my own perception of someone else's attack into my own attack."

Kasae scowled. "Fine. I'll beat you without my special attacks." He rushed at his opponent. He feigned a step to the right and dashed to the left, moving behind the zanpakuto, going for an elbow attack with the spikes on his right arm. Upon contact, a rainbow of sparks were created from the grinding of the hard shell on the silver skin.

"That won't be possible, Kasae." Meikoboro Dokuna said. He turned around to face his opponent, who he was over 20 centimeters taller than. "I'm a zanpakuto. I grow with the person that wields me. You should know what that means. I have a fighting power equal to that of Liomara. You can't win."

Suddenly, his fist was buried in Kasae's face. Before he could even react, he hit him again. And again. Then Kasae was pushed up against a tree with Meikoboro Dokuna's fists plowing into his abdomen and face almost eight times every second. "Can't fight back, can you?!" The zanpakuto sneered. "You should use Super Saiyan 6! Or is it that you aren't able to on command?" He finally let up, after Kasae's face was hardly recognizable.

Kasae knew he was in a really bad situation, now. Many of his internal organs were ruptured, and he could hardly breathe. And even still, he wasn't able to go Super Saiyan 6 on command. He hadn't truly unlocked the Reserve Bank yet. Each time he wanted to ascend, he had to push himself to a state of death. But now, he was on the verge of passing out. He couldn't win if he didn't go Super Saiyan 6, and he couldn't go Super Saiyan 6 if he passed out. If he lost consciousness, he was as good as dead. But...he couldn't hold on any longer. His vision was going black against his will. In a panic, he let out a deep yell and let his power out. This continued for only about three seconds. All of a sudden, he reverted back to base form and fell to the ground.

"Fool." Meikoboro Dokuna said. "You've just lost the fight, now."

* * *

Jiino sighed while sitting still deep in the southern forest. "That insubordinate fool Kagamichi is off fighting someone other than who I told him to. This is why I hate making copies of zanpakuto in less than three days. It's probably time that I cut the cord on that failed creation. I can handle that man myself." Sweat dripped down his nose as he sat completely still. His muscles tensed and loosened in ten second increments. Soon his body began to glow. _The process is beginning. In exactly seventy-two hours, perfect copies of every zanpakuto in this dimension will have been created, excluding the one I already copied. And these ones will follow my orders down to the letter._

"You are the one who set me free, aren't you?" The voice almost made Jiino jump. No one should have been able to sense his whereabouts. It was impossible. He was a master of Kidou. He'd set up a perfect barrier. He searched his surroundings with his mind while still keeping his eyes closed. There was a reiatsu nearby. And it was familiar. Something he'd felt in his for all zanpakuto in Otherworld. He _had_ created this being. But when? The only times he used his power was when he made the copy of Hangyaku, and just after he scanned Otherworld. This being had to have been created after the scan.

_Then...how did he manifest so quickly?_ "Who are you?" He demanded.

"Who am I?" The zanpakuto asked. "I should be asking who you are."

"That's not how this works." Jiino opened his eyes and turned around. "I am your master, and you'll do as I say. Now what is your name?"

"You? My master?" The zanpakuto laughed. "I don't think so. I am grateful for you freeing me from that awful being, but don't think I'm about to become your servant." He had long pure white and wavy hair falling down in front of his face, and one could barely see his eyes. He wore a loose white gi and loose pants. It was hard to tell if the stubble on his face was also white, but the color of his sclerae were clearly black.

"I didn't free you." Jiino told him. "I created you. From my own reiatsu. That makes me your master."

"You didn't create me." He retorted. "I've existed as my own entity, trapped in that other body for several months now. Almost a year, even. Your reiatsu found me and freed me instead of creating an entirely new being."

"Then you are a failure." Jiino muttered. He tightened his reiatsu, cutting off the flow to all of his creations in otherworld. He felt Kagamichi's reiatsu disappear immediately. But for some reason, this man was still standing in front of him. "I suppose you're right." He admitted. "I do not have the authority to end your life as I please."

The zanpakuto sat down once he saw Jiino's muscles tighten. "Don't worry. I'm not here to kill you."

"Then what have you come here for?"

"I'll tell you what." The zanpakuto gave a small smile, yet completely reserved. "I'll grant a single one of your requests, as payback for setting me free."

"One request?" Jiino smiled back. "That's perfect. It turns out I only had one job for you, anyway."

"And what would that be?"

"The body you came from...the man that wielded the main body of the zanpakuto that is yourself...I want you to kill him."

"Perfect. It seems like our goals are aligned in this case."

"I don't care what your reasons are. Just get the job done, and then we won't have to see each other anymore." Jiino said casually. "I don't want anything to do with failed creations, and you don't want anything to do with those you try to order you around."

"I guess we're at an agreement." The zanpakuto said. He stood up, and just before he walked away into the deep forest, he turned his head and smirked at Jiino. "I'll tell you my name, on second thought. It is Hikari Seigyo."


	49. Creeping Revenge

_Chapter XCI: Creeping Revenge_

Dominick flew at Kashito with a bloody face and bruised chest. He'd taken his shirt off, not because it was blown off in his Super Saiyan 6 transformation, but because it was in the way, and he was in a situation where he had the time to take it off. He saw the ice moving along the ground at him, aiming to freeze his feet to the floor. He quickly jumped up into the air, but that was exactly where Kashito wanted him to be. A thin spike of ice shot toward Dominick at lightning speed. He thought he'd moved himself out of the way in time, but a portion of his right arm was covered in ice. He dropped to the floor.

"Can you continue?" Kashito asked. "You still seem out of it."

"I'm fine." Dominick said. "I have to push through whatever pain I feel, or else I'll never-"

Both of them suddenly turned their heads to the entrance of the training room. Kujako was there, scratching the back of his neck and yawning. "I brought guests." He mumbled.

Soriyamo, Shirako, Rari, and Lisa all came through the door behind him. Dominick's eyes widened. "You all came here?" He smiled, then it quickly faded once he realized their purpose in coming. "I was just about to go see you guys, too. You felt it, didn't you?"

The silent nods answered his question. The mood suddenly became somber as they approached each other. "We came to ask you if you knew anything about what was going on." Soriyamo muttered. "Our zanpakuto all felt like they were being torn apart, or something was being separated from them, but now they're saying all of their beings are still there."

"What?" Dominick asked. "That makes no sense."

"What do you mean?" Lisa asked. "Is it different for you?"

"Yeah." He replied. "Hikari Seigyo told me that a distinct part of him was now gone."

"You're right." Shirako said softly. "That is hard to understand. All of this is hard to understand."

"We don't even remotely know what caused this." Soriyamo scowled. "Are we supposed to ignore it? We all felt it at the same time. That's too convenient to ignore. But then what are we supposed to do?"

Silence fell over the room again. It seemed to grow larger while everyone in it seemed to grow smaller with each moment of silence. Rari looked over at Kujako, who yawned again and decided to go back to his room. "Wait." Rari smirked, trying to lighten the mood. He couldn't handle all of this tension that didn't involve him. "Kujako. You think you could still take me in a fight?"

"Shut the fuck up." Kujako retorted without making eye contact. "I'd still kick your ass."

"Do you want to test that?"

"No, not real-"

Every head in the room perked up at the same time. This was a power they hadn't felt in four months, and yet it was so familiar. At a Super Saiyan 5 level, the energy they felt belonged to Kasae, and it was coming from directly north of where they were now. None of them said a word. They all got ready to fly to where the power level was coming from. This was the first time they'd felt Kasae power up since he'd fought Liomara, and they knew that he'd all felt the pulse. He'd found something out. That was the assumption they made. As they flew out, Kashito yelled out to Dominick. "Wait! You're in no condition to fight right now!"

"We don't have time to worry about that!" Dominick shouted back. By the time he finished his sentence, he was already out the door.

The five of them flew north as fast as possible. On their way up, they felt Kasae's power rise for a little bit, but then it sharply dropped off. Soriyamo and Shirako made eye contact, then picked up the pace. They flew until they came across Liomara's grave, then found that Kasae was slightly to the east. At this point, his power was decreasing to a dangerous level. They flew into the forest, dodging trees that were no more than a blur to them.

Suddenly, Dominick stopped. There was a silver-skinned man in the distance standing above Kasae's unmoving body. The man turned around to face his five unwelcome guests. "Ah." He murmured. "I guess I didn't finish in time."

"Who the hell are you?" Rari demanded. The man did not emit any fighting power. Only reiatsu. Rari did not understand the power of the man like the others did.

"Some of you look familiar." He said. "You in the black ponytail. And the woman. I believe you were the sister."

"What do you want with Lisa?!" Rari shouted.

The man acted like he wasn't even there. "But you…" He pointed to Dominick. "You should know very well who I am. My name is Meikoboro Dokuna." He said while the corners of his lips curled slightly up into a satisfied smile.

Dominick's eyes widened and his nostrils flared. "There's no way. Liomara is dead." The others turned to face Dominick with questioning looks. He met each of their eyes, then let out a slow breath. "Meikoboro Dokuna was the name of Liomara's bankai."

Lisa's breathing sped up. Soriyamo and Shirako tried to calm her down. Rari glared at Meikoboro Dokuna. But it was Dominick that acted first. He transformed into a Super Saiyan 6 without warning. "You'll pay for what you did to Kasae." He said. "And you'll pay for further mocking Liomara's existence."

"Impressive." The zanpakuto sneered. "You're definitely stronger than when we fought four months ago. But you've yet to come close to the strength at which you defeated Liomara."

Dominick lunged at him. Soriyamo jumped up as well. "Wait, Dominick!" He didn't listen. Soriyamo clicked his tongue and went Super Saiyan 6, following him into battle.

Meikoboro Dokuna approached the two of them with a smile, but that smile suddenly faded. Dominick and Soriyamo froze in their tracks as the zanpakuto knelt down, clutching at his own heart. "What...is this feeling?" He muttered to himself. He looked up at his two opponents and scowled. His body then turned a light blue, then lost it's form. He'd been turned into pure reiatsu. What was left of him promptly dissolved into nothingness.

Dominick and Soriyamo looked at each other out of confusion. "What just happened?" Rari asked them.

"I have no idea." Dominick replied. He relaxed his muscles and began to walk back to where Lisa and Shirako were. Soriyamo kept his guard up. Dominick suddenly reverted back to his base form and fell to the floor. Shirako and Lisa jumped up and ran to him.

Shirako sighed upon arriving at his body. "It's fine. Just exhaustion." He said. "He pushed himself too hard with Kashito today."

Soriyamo smiled. "He's grown a lot since he's gotten here."

"He has." Shirako agreed. "The two of us still have quite a bit more power than he does, though." He walked over to Kasae. "Kasae is fine as well. Just exhaustion and probably some broken bones. It's nothing I can't fix in a day or two."

"We got lucky." Soriyamo said. "But we still don't know what this was all about. His smile faded. "This isn't an occurrence that we can just overlook. The zanpakuto of a man that died twice tried to kill us."

Lisa was softly crying and Rari was comforting her. Shirako hoisted Kasae onto his back and Soriyamo did the same with Dominick. They began to fly back to their house when Soriyamo turned around. "Lisa." He called to her. "You don't have time to be sad. Come on."

"Hey, Soriyamo!" Rari yelled in her defense.

"What are you going to do?" He asked. "Are you going to sit around and mope, or are you going to get stronger? You have the power needed. I can tell. Your reiatsu is stronger than anyone else's. But that amounts to nothing if something like this can break your spirit."

"There's no need for that, Soriyamo." Rari scowled slightly.

"No, he's right." Lisa murmured. "I'm still not strong enough. I can never allow my spirit to break."

* * *

Martin sat in front of Mr. Rievere in the eastern forest. Both of them were unmoving. Martin's eyes were closed, but Mr. Rievere's were open. They sat in silence for what must have been 10 minutes.

"I've set up a barrier." Mr. Rievere finally said. "You can release your full power now. Let's see how far you've grown in just four months."

Martin then opened his eyes and stood up. "I've been looking forward to this."

Mr. Rievere's lower eyelids moved up, turning his eyes into the shape of crescent moons. He smiled in anticipation of what his student was capable of. _All this time...you've never let your guard down around me, Martin. And that's what I love about you._

Martin's muscles began to twitch as his power rose. Mr. Rievere felt a slight breeze coming from Martin that gradually grew stronger. First, red fur began to surface on his arms. His Saiyan tail also became red. His muscles bulged and his teeth were clenched. Then his hair turned golden and was lifted up by the amount of energy he was putting out. He began to let a long, drawn out yell. Perturbations in the ground were caught by Meiryu's barrier and rippled up the sides. With an explosion of energy, he transformed into a Super Saiyan 6. His fighting power was multiplied by ten, but he did not stop there. His power kept rising, and the ground beneath him began to disintegrate. Mr. Rievere kept his smile. There seemed to be no strain on his barrier. Martin kept going. His scream became louder as he pushed himself to his limits. Soon, there was no ground left for Meiryu to stand on. Martin's energy had disintegrated all of the land within the barrier. He threw his head back and his arms out as his power began to top off. Slowly, he settled down. He'd blown his tank top off in the powerup process.

"How was that?" He asked.

"Very impressive." Mr. Rievere told him. "Not that I expected any less of you."

"How strong am I?"

"If you would have fought Liomara as you are right now, you would have won by a slight margin."

"I mean compared to you." Martin told him.

Meiryu laughed. "Compared to me? Telling you that you hold even a percent of a percent of my power would be very generous."

Martin clicked his tongue. "I still think you're bluffing about all this power you have. There's no doubt that you're strong, but to say that you're still over ten thousand times stronger than me is ridiculous."

"True, it's probably closer to a million." Mr. Rievere said. "Don't worry that you can't comprehend the difference in our power. I, and the others like myself, reside in a different dimension from the normal people."

"Others like you?"

"Of course." He responded. "Did you think I was the only survivor of the Makara Warriors? There were others who did not master any Powers like myself. One of them is from your Universe as well. I'm sure you know the name Kyono Yogan."

Martin's eyes widened. That was the one that Shihebi told them about. The strongest man to ever exist in Universe 7. "He's...still alive?"

"Very much so." Meiryu told him. "And he's not the person you would want to run into. He's much stronger than me, and much more dangerous. There are others to watch out for as well. If you encounter any of the following people, do not even bother running. Make piece with the fact that you are about to die. Senie Fruyier. Nakuchev Urakirahk. Junsui Yihan. And the strongest man out of all of them, the strongest man to ever live aside from the Father of the Dark and his two children...Shinobu Buvois."

"Shinobu...Buvois?" Martin stammered. "How have I never heard of this man before?"

"It's taboo for many people of authority to speak of events during the Second Omniversal War. The Kais of this Universe, for example, are taught to never speak of it by their superiors. And they are the only ones of this Universe with access to such knowledge."

Martin powered back down to base mode. He'd felt a bit of Mr. Rievere's power before. It was nothing like anything he'd ever felt. He still didn't trust the man. But he was the only one that could make him strong.

"Don't worry, Martin." Mr. Rievere said softly. "The reason I wanted to train you is because I truly do believe that you have the potential to ascend to the dimension of the Makara Warriors. It will take time. And you will face many hardships before that happens."

"Hangyaku?"

"I don't believe that the time has come to fight Hangyaku yet. You still are not strong enough."

"Even with my new power, I'm not strong enough to defeat Hangyaku?" Martin questioned.

"Not by a longshot. Hangyaku is still probably five times stronger than you." Mr. Rievere answered. "There are other disturbances at hand that are happening as we speak."

* * *

Jiino was in the dark. Alone. He was alone. _There's no one here. Where is he? Where did he go?_

There was sand beneath him. The only thing he could see. Grey sand, spiraling for infinity. _Where am I? It's that place. This world of spinning darkness. I'm here. But where is he?_ Jiino looked at the sword in his right hand. Empty. Void of a spirit. That sword meant something to him. Something he could never forget. It brought back memories. Memories of Soul Society, of Shinigami. That's right. He was one, at one point. It was hard to remember. It was the Second Division. The Black Ops. They specialized in killing. They were assassins. They betrayed him, their captain. They betrayed their own captain. One man in particular stood out in his memory. Ruitsu Nimaiya. Stripped the soul from his zanpakuto. Stripped the zanpakuto from the blade, leaving behind nothing but empty metal. It wasn't his fault. His weapon wouldn't listen to him. He was insubordinate. He deserved to be punished. It wasn't his fault. Why was he expelled? Why was he betrayed?

There was a man in a dark blue cloak standing in the sand, facing away from him. The first person he'd seen...as long as he could remember. He opened his mouth to call out, but no sound came. The man started walking away. _Come back. You belong to me. Come back._

A white haired man appeared in the distance and placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. The man in the cloak turned around and smiled at Jiino. His eyes thinned and eyebrows dipped down.

_YOU BELONG TO ME!_ He then turned his attention to the white haired man. _YOU MAY NOT TAKE HIM! HE IS MINE! YOU ARE STEALING ZANPAKUTO FROM THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!_

Neither of the two in the distance seemed to acknowledge what he was saying. They began to walk away. He ran after them, but soon realized he was not covering any distance. _I'LL KILL YOU! ALL OF YOU! YOU ARE MINE! MY ZANPAKUTO! I'LL KILL EVERYONE WHO OWNS A ZANPAKUTO THAT ISN'T THEIRS! NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES! EVERYONE WILL DIE, AND I WILL HAVE MY REVENG-_

Jiino opened his eyes and he was back in the southern forest. His breathing was uncontrolled and his heartbeat was elevated. _Revenge. Revenge. Revenge._ His nostrils flared and his eyes glowed with pure rage.


	50. Erasure

_Chapter XCII: Erasure_

It was three days before Dominick was even allowed to return to Kashito's place. Both Soriyamo and Kashito agreed that it was better for him to take a couple days of rest and recuperate before starting to train again.

Lisa was training with Soriyamo and Shirako while Rari was with Kaoren, Yosuhiro, and Nyoriyo. Kasae was reluctantly letting himself be healed by Sairyo. There wasn't even that much to heal. He only had a couple remaining flesh wounds. Waichei was nowhere to be found. He was probably training on his own in the forest somewhere.

Dominick was heading back to Kashito's place in the morning. It was windy. He decided to take his time on the way over there; it was only a ten minute walk. As he was walking back, he felt a surge of reiatsu coming from the south. It lasted for a couple seconds, then there was nothing. He stopped and looked around, thinking someone was watching him. There was no one. He started to move again, but now he was running. The wind had died down, and it became quiet. He could hear the running water all the way from Grand Kai's place. His destination came into view, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

He burst through the door. "Kashito?"

"What's up? What took you so long?" The Naga answered.

Dominick looked around the room. Still, there was nothing out of the ordinary. "I felt a weird surge of reiatsu on the way here."

"Oh?" Kashito set down whatever he was reading. "You can ignore that. It was nothing. Do you want to the back? Kujako is waiting."

Dominick nodded. "Alright." He walked past his mentor and as he did so, something definitely felt off about him. _That's not Kashito's energy. It's something much more familiar._ He stopped in his tracks. _Kashito was the one who first wanted me to take a break from training. Why is he in such a hurry to get me back into it?_

He turned around. Kashito was sneering at him with thin eyes. He knew at this point. It wasn't his mentor. Without hesitation, he lunged at the man disguised as Kashito. He pinned his throat to the wall with his forearm. "Who are you?" Dominick demanded. "What have you done with Kashito?"

"You're quick to catch on." He responded. "But I didn't do anything to him. You know I don't have that ability."

"Do I?" Dominick scowled. "I'll ask again. Who are you?"

"You know very well who I am." The man began to release energy. It was reiatsu, and Dominick immediately knew who it belonged to. Kashito's skin began to peel away, turning into light particles as it faded.

"Hikari Seigyo." He muttered. He was then thrown off of his zanpakuto's body.

"Are you surprised to see me?" He asked.

"I can't say I am." Dominick replied. "Three days ago, I felt a pulse. Hikari Seigyo told me that a part of him had been torn away. That was you, wasn't it?"

The dark eyed zanpakuto smiled. "That's not all." He said. "You know about me, don't you? My origin. What caused me to exist. I fostered the growth of your Black Sclera, and he fostered my growth. I grew separately from your zanpakuto like a tumor, and I've far surpassed both of you."

Dominick got chills down his spine. His Black Sclera was something created inside him to try to take over his own body. While it was created to go against him, it wasn't an inherently evil being. It inherited both Dominick's and Hangyaku's personalities, and that was it. This being was evil. It existed within Hikari Seigyo from the beginning. It was pure evil. _I have to destroy this thing._

"You probably also know that I'm capable of a lot of things that your Hikari Seigyo just cannot do." He said. "I can manipulate the way I reflect light to change how you see me. I can also use bankai. You have no hope."

"You have no idea." Dominick retorted. "I've made great strides in the last four months."

"I know that." Hikari Seigyo responded. "I have lived in your zanpakuto until just three days ago."

Dominick took a few steps back. "What do you want? Why did you come here?"

The zanpakuto laughed, then all of a sudden he was on top of Dominick, hand covering his throat. "I came here out of the goodness of my heart to kill you." He muttered inches away from his former host's face. "And I plan to follow through."

* * *

Rari sparred with Kaoren while Yosuhiro and Nyoriyo rested. Soriyamo, Shirako, and Lisa went upstairs to get hydrated. Sairyo and Kasae were also up there.

Kaoren shot at Rari, jumped with a spin, and brought his foot down toward his opponent's head. Rari blocked it with his forearm and pushed backward, causing Kaoren to fall back to the floor. "This is pointless." Rari complained. "I need to be training with Lisa and them if I want to get stronger."

Kaoren got up. "Nyoriyo, get in here with me." His twin brother jumped up excitedly despite the fact that he was injured.

He ran to Kaoren's side. "It's been a while since we've fought as a team instead of against each other."

"The last time we needed to was when we were alive." The older twin responded. "We know each other well. Now let's kick Rari's ass."

Rari smirked. "Go ahead and try."

Kaoren and Nyoriyo rushed their opponent at the same time. Kaoren jumped up and Nyoriyo stayed low. They played on each other's strengths and weaknesses. Rari knew that Kaoren was the stronger one, so he paid more attention to the air. He then felt a breeze at his feet. Nyoriyo had dropped to the floor and was about to swipe Rari's feet out from underneath him. He jumped to avoid it, but then felt Kaoren's fists on the back of his head. He was thrown forward, but then he put his hands on the ground to stop himself. He then continued with the momentum in his legs to flip onto his feet, kicking Kaoren in the head in the process. He landed behind Kaoren and threw an elbow into his back without warning. Both of them were on the floor.

"You're teamwork is impeccable, guys." He said. "You completely caught me off guard. But you lack the power behind your punch. You guys just need more strength, and you can take on anyone."

Nyoriyo got up, chuckling and scratching the back of his head. "Thanks, Rari."

Kaoren got up as well and walked over to where Yosuhiro was, then sat down again. He wasn't necessarily upset, but he sure wasn't as happy as Nyoriyo was after the compliment.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver and blood spewed from a gash on Nyoriyo's face that spanned from his left ear to just under his left eye. He fell to the floor quickly, his breathing suddenly out of control. Kaoren hopped back onto his feet. "What the hell just happened?!" He shouted in a panic. He ran over to his brother and knelt down at his side.

Nyoriyo's breathing was speeding up and each breath was shorter than the last. Soon, it was as if he was suffocating. "Kaoren…" He managed. "I can't...breathe…"

Kaoren looked over to Yosuhiro, who was trying to figure out who may have attacked him. "It's like he's having a panic attack."

Rari found the attacker in the distance and locked glares with him. It was just a little boy. He had thick, long purple hair that was very wavy, stick out in every direction and covering one eye. He had long eyelashes that matched his hair color as well, and they especially stood out from his black sclerae. Around his neck was what looked to be a navy blue mask that he had pulled down to just look like a scrunchie. He wore a loose white tank top, which set the childish look in stone. Lastly, he wore handcuffs on his wrists, independent of each other, with chains falling nearly to the floor from each one.

"Who are you?!" Rari shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What? You don't remember me?" The child asked. "You just saw me like a week ago. You used to see me all the time."

"What are you talking about?" Rari demanded.

Suddenly the child was right in front of him, holding his hands up near Rari's face. "Do these chains ring a bell?"

Rari remembered the events from three days prior. Seeing the manifestation of Liomara's zanpakuto was no coincidence; they had already drawn that conclusion. "You're Togosari Seigyo, aren't you? Lisa is the only one who uses chains as a weapon."

"Look, a smart one." The child mocked. "That's right. I am Lisa's zanpakuto, Togosari Seigyo."

* * *

Mr. Rievere looked up all of a sudden. Martin was asleep. He had forced him to rest against his will for the last three days, just as Dominick was. The two of them were progressing fast, and it was almost too fast for their own good. Both he and Kashito knew very well that at the rate they were moving, they would hurt themselves before they were strong enough to take on Hangyaku. The energy maximum that a body can hold only progresses at a fixed rate. One must be very careful not to exceed that limit, or else irreversible repercussions may be faced. Martin and Dominick were approaching that limit fast. In reality, they were supposed to take weeks off from training at this point, but this zanpakuto incident prevented that from happening.

"Martin, wake up." He nudged his student.

Martin's eyes snapped open and he hopped to his feet. "What is this?" He asked, looking around.

"I'm impressed you can feel it. It's reiatsu." Mr. Rievere told him. "It's popping up everywhere. There's one over near the Grand Kai's palace, there's one up at the mountain where Dalton is training, and there's even one coming this way."

"Should we be worried about that?"

"I'm not sure-" Mr. Rievere stopped speaking all of a sudden. "No, this can't be right. I just lost track of the reiatsu. Never in my entire life have I lost track of any form of energy."

"What are you talking about?" Martin asked him. "Wasn't it coming right toward us?"

"Yes...but now...it's like it never existed."

"But that's imposs-" Martin was suddenly thrown to the ground. Even Mr. Rievere was surprise, despite hiding it from his face as best he could. There was obviously someone there, but he sensed nothing.

"Impossible?" A voice said. It came from right in between Martin and Mr. Rievere. And yet, nothing was there, still. "It does sound impossible, doesn't it? But the wolf would never be able to hunt if it couldn't mask its presence, would it?" It was a deep voice, like an old man's.

"If you're really invisible," Martin said, getting up, "you wouldn't have said a word." He took a swing at where the voice was coming from, but hit nothing but air. "Who are you?"

"Did you really think I would tell you that?" The man answered him from behind.

Martin turned around as quickly as he could and sent another punch. Again, it was futile. "What the hell are you even here for?" he demanded.

"Well, you are not the one I am after, but I am more than willing to kill you as well."

"That's all I needed to hear." Martin said, smiling. "Mr. Rievere, make a barrier around yourself. I have a surefire way of taking this guy out."

"Very well." Mr. Rievere smiled. "Don't push yourself too hard. You're still supposed to be on break from training."

"I know that." Martin responded. "Now, whoever you are, this would be a good time for you to run." He suddenly turned into a Super Saiyan 6, and started concentrating energy all around him. "I've never used this attack before. To be honest, I'm kind of coming up with this on the spot." A bright yellow energy formed around his body in the shape of a tall ellipse. It grew stronger until Martin shouted, _"FINAL FLASH: OMNISTRIKE!"_ Then, the yellow energy shot out in every direction in the form of many energy beams, incinerating much of the forest instantly.

When the dust cleared, everything within a hundred meter radius was reduced to debris. Mr. Rievere stood unharmed amidst it all. "What an innovative strategy." He said somewhat sarcastically.

"It did the job." Martin retorted. "He's either long gone or he got blasted to oblivion."

"Or neither." The deep voice said. "It was a magnificent attack, but it did not do the job."

"What?!" Martin exclaimed. "How...how are you alive?"

"Simple, really." He responded. "You aren't my owner. I can basically only be defeated by my owner."

"Owner?" Martin asked. "Who the hell is your owner?"

"That would be me." A new voice said. This one was familiar, and was like a warm shower upon the two other voices that Martin could not trust. He looked behind him to see Shirako with his zanpakuto drawn. "So this is where you've been all this time, Martin. No one has heard from you since Liomara was defeated." He said.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I realized that I needed much more power than I had, and had to seek other methods of training."

"Well, whatever you're doing is working." Shirako told him. "You've even surpassed Dominick with that display of power."

Martin smiled at the praise from the man who was his mentor for a short period of time. Then he forced himself to focus on what was happening at the moment. "Wait, so you're the owner? Is this thing...Yabokami Seigyo?"

"Not quite." Shirako opened his mouth again to elaborate, but then the deep voice echoed throughout the debris again.

"Oh, did you want my shikai form instead? Since Shirako is here now, I am willing to show myself. Suddenly a man appeared right behind Martin. Martin jumped back and immediately put his guard up. The man had sky blue colored silky hair that was spiky on the top of his head, but smooth in the back. He had a scruffy beard and eyebrows of the same color on top of black sclerae, and furry blue wolf ears stuck out on top of his head. His face was chiseled behind all of the hair, and his body was wide and very muscular. "Here I am. It has been awhile since you've seen me like this, hasn't it, Shirako?"

"Why the hell...is your zanpakuto here in human form?" Martin stammered.

"I don't know, Martin. But it seems as though he is out or my blood." Shirako told him.

"That's correct. It was ordered by my creator." His black sclerae seemed to darken even further. "But first, I'll formally introduce myself to the others. I am Shirako's zanpakuto, Yabokami Seigyo."


	51. The Revenge Commences

_Chapter XCIII: The Revenge Commences_

"I felt your reiatsu approaching." Dalton said, opening his eyes. There was a man in front of him floating above the mountain north of the forest.

"I knew you would." The man responded. He had thin, sharp eyes and a goatee and mustache like a yakuza member. His bright red hair was tall and spiky, and fell back like a lion's mane to his shoulders. Two huge, flaming wings sprouted from his back, each at least a meter long. Hits slit-shaped red irises were surrounded by a black sclerae, like a void.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dalton demanded. "How did you come to be?"

"I am not permitted to tell you any of that." He told him. "I am only here to kill you."

"That's what I thought, Jigoku Kara no Hono."

"Don't speak to me in that tone." The zanpakuto said. He drew his sword from a strap that hung around his left shoulder and right hip. It was just a hilt with no blade. Just a black hilt with a maroon guard. A spark came from where the blade should have been. Then, the sword burst into flames and the flames morphed into the shape of a dragon.

Dalton smiled. "This is perfect timing, actually." He muttered. "I was actually just thinking I could use some bankai training. After all of this meditation, I've grown very close with my own Jigoku Kara no Hono." He drew his zanpakuto. "Burn." The blade turned red, hot with flames, and billowed and expanded into a dragon.

The mountain felt more heat than it had ever felt before. Dalton and Jiino's copy of Jigoku Kara no Hono released their reiatsu to its full power. As the flames expanded even further, they moved behind the backs of their respective wielders. The mountain had its own wings of flame.

* * *

"Sairyo, I'm fine now." Kasae grumbled. "I've been fine for a while now."

"Stop fighting me." She commanded. "I'll tell you when you're fine. I'm the one who knows how to heal."

He sighed. It wasn't that he minded being around her; it was just that he couldn't stand being cared for in general. He only had slight bruises left over at this point. It was as if she wanted to care for him just to be around him. He didn't understand.

Suddenly, Soriyamo and Shirako climbed out of the underground training room, followed closely by Lisa. Soriyamo looked at Kasae. It was almost strange for him to be around now. He'd been gone since Liomara's death. Sairyo seemed happy to have him around. Everyone else didn't know how to act. He gave them the cold shoulder. He refused to talk to Soriyamo and Shirako. No one really knew what was going on inside his head. Maybe he didn't either.

They walked awkwardly past him into the next room to get some water. Sairyo looked up and smiled at Lisa. "Rari's not with you?" She asked.

"No, he's down training with Kaoren and the others." Lisa responded. "I feel bad for him. He's trying really hard to catch up with Dominick. Training with me wasn't doing the trick, and training with Kaoren isn't either."

"And training with Soriyamo and Shirako would probably get him killed." Sairyo laughed.

"That's what I'm afraid of. The only reason I can train with those two right now is because of my zanpakuto. We're doing reiatsu training right now, but I can also feel my battle power going up as well." Lisa told her.

"That's good." Sairyo said. "I hope that goes well."

"Thanks." As Lisa walked away to follow the other two into the next room, Sairyo gave her a look of pity. She looked fatigued. She was tired. She wasn't giving herself any time to rest.

A couple of seconds passed and she was out of sight. Sairyo went back to Kasae. A sudden urge compelled her to speak. "You know, Kasae, I have-" Her face grew red. What was she saying?

Kasae suddenly stood up. "Wait, hold that thought." He said. "I feel something."

"What?" She asked. "If it's energy, I don't feel anything."

"No, I think...it's reiatsu." He muttered, more to himself than to her. "It started at one point, but is spreading out now...into six different locations. No...two of them are coming here."

"Kasae, you're scaring me."

Soriyamo, Shirako, and Lisa all ran out of the other room. Lisa ran back down into the underground training room immediately. "Shirako. You know what this is, right? These reiatsus...they're ours."

"Yeah. I can feel it." He replied. "I feel mine in the eastern forest."

"Mine is south." Soriyamo scowled. "It's safe to assume we'll need to defeat our own zanpakuto. Let's split up here."

"I agree." Shirako said. Suddenly, they felt a huge burst of energy coming from the eastern forest and a low rumble passed through the ground. "That energy…" Shirako stammered. "That was Martin. I have to hurry." With that, he flew out the front door, made a left, and headed straight into the forest.

Soriyamo turned around. "Kasae. Do you feel yours as well?"

Kasae looked at the number one Saiyan in wonder. How was he talking to him so normally? But he knew this wasn't the time for that. "Yeah, I feel it." He said. "It's heading straight for us."

"I'll leave it to you." Soriyamo told him. "Protect the others. With your life, if you have to."

"You don't have to tell me that." Kasae responded. Soriyamo smiled, then flew south out the front door. Then he turned toward the back door. "I feel you, Kihauya Seigyo." He muttered. "You're coming from the north. I won't even let you enter this house."

He suddenly ran toward the back door. "Kasae, wait!" Sairyo called after him.

"Stay inside." He told her. "This guy should be as strong as me. I don't want you to get hurt. I'd never forgive myself if you did."

She couldn't fight that. She wanted to help him still, but deep down, she was happy to hear him say that.

He stepped outside, and there was already a man outside waiting for him. He was tall and skinny, with hair that drooped just on the outer sides of both eyes. One side was cut flatly at his lower cheek, and the other was allowed to grow out, but only grew just below his eye. It seemed as if he had red triangles painted upside-down just below each eye, and he was dressed in the same white clothes a priest would wear. Surrounding his purple irises were black sclerae.

"What are you here for?" Kasae demanded.

"I carry my creator's will." The zanpakuto responded. "I am here to carry out his revenge, and take your life."

"Your creator. He's only targeting zanpakuto users, isn't he?" Kasae asked.

"That is not up to me to say."

_It is likely that you're correct._ Kihakuya Seigyo said inside Kasae's head._ It was the same for Kagamichi. He was sent to kill his master. The man behind this must have something against the zanpakuto users in Otherworld._

The man in front of Kasae drew a blade that resembled two sickles with a handle connecting them in a parallel fashion. It was Kihakuya Seigyo's blade.

Kasae drew his own blade. "Shoot them down, Kihakuya Seigyo." His blade then turned into the same shape as his opponent's. "You're supposed to be the zanpakuto that reigns over the heavens. The lone zanpakuto that received the blessing of the Holy Mother. It's unbecoming of you to show up before me with these intentions."

"We will decide who is deserving of the blessing of the Holy Mother," the zanpakuto responded, "after the winner of this battle is decided."

"Whoever you're creator is made a huge mistake coming after zanpakuto users that have already achieved bankai." Kasae said. "I have already defeated you once."

"And what of it?" Kihakuya asked. "What makes you think that this battle will be the same?"

"This battle may be under different circumstances, but I swear to you that the results will be the same." Kasae released his energy and transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. "I will defeat you here, then I will defeat your creator."

* * *

Waichei held himself vertically upright with only his pinky finger as he brought his face as close to the floor as possible. He was in the forest alone, and he had been for the last month. His hair had completely grown back despite his worries, but the burn marks on his right eye, left jawline, and much of his torso still remained.

"Swearing to never use Super Saiyan again...was not enough. It was never enough to repent." He muttered to himself as he lifted his face back away from the dirt. "Shirako...saved my life...even after what I did in the living world. I have to be strong enough...to return the favor...no matter what...I must repent."

"Repent?" A voice called. "That's something you should talk to Kihakuya Seigyo about."

Waichei immediately hopped to his feet. "Who's there?" He demanded.

A man walked out from behind a tree wearing a dark cloak with no sleeves and no hood. His eyes were very thin and sunken in. His cheeks were sunken as well. His black hair was slicked back and put into a fluffy ponytail, except for two thick strands of hair that fell down and looped behind his ears. He wore a constant smile that drooped almost into a v-shape with the upper lip painted black. His eyes were the scariest, however. Not only were the scleras black, but the irises were replaced with two white slit pupils in each eye. "I am the soul collector." He said softly. "I found your soul to be the most corrupt in this world. I figured I would come cleanse you of your filth."

"Who the hell are you?" Waichei demanded again.

"I told you, I collect souls. I'm called Kaishu Seigyo." He told him. "I apologize for what I said just now. It's not that you're an evil person. Your soul just has a lot of...dirt...from the past."

Waichei scowled. "I can clean that dirt off by myself, thank you very much." _That name...isn't it the same as...Soriyamo's…_

Kaishu Seigyo moved his hands out from his sides and opened them. Two large scythes materialized in his open hands. "No, allow me. It truly is my specialty." He chuckled. He put the tips of his two scythes together, and a black orb of energy formed in front of them. "Jitaikesu." The black orb swirled and expanded, then shot at Waichei.

He found himself unable to move as it shot toward him, and it was like is soul was being sucked into it. Suddenly, it was sliced in half by a silver blur just under a meter in front of him. Dark hair flowed into his view, along with a sickly green shirt. It was Soriyamo, holding the same two scythes that Kaishu Seigyo was holding.

"Oh, it's you." Kaishu Seigyo muttered. "I was ordered to kill you, so this makes it easy on me."

"What makes you so confident that you can defeat me?" Soriyamo retorted.

"I know how to use this blade perfectly, since it is me. Your relationship with your zanpakuto is still imperfect. That's why I am stronger than you."

"And yet, I still somehow achieved bankai by defeating you." Soriyamo elevated his reiatsu and his energy at the same time. "I don't want to waste time here. You were probably created the same way as the reincarnation of Liomara's zanpakuto was. I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

"And I want to kill you as soon as possible, so I can go collect as many souls as I want." Kaishu Seigyo smiled at him.

Soriyamo transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. He walked closer to his zanpakuto, but then stopped. "Waichei, are you okay?" He suddenly asked.

Waichei was taken aback. This was the first time anyone besides Sairyo had made an effort to connect with him. "I'm fine…" He responded quietly. "Don't worry about me. I still haven't properly repented for my sins of the past."

"Waichei...you saved Sairyo's life, I heard. You were willing to give your own life to protect your comrade." Soriyamo told him. "Liomara let you into our group for a reason. I trust his judgement. Shirako has personal grudges against you, but don't think that speaks for the rest of us. We all trust you now."

"But Soriyamo...it's just...I don't trust myself."

"I figured that." Soriyamo said, still facing away from him. "So take as long as you need to convince yourself. You're one of us." He began walking again.

"You're not going to start out at Super Saiyan 6?" Kaishu Seigyo asked sarcastically.

"I need to warm up first." Soriyamo lunged at his zanpakuto. Their scythes began clashing at an insane speed. Waichei watched in awe. He could hear almost eight clashes every second. Their blades just looked like shiny blurs in the air. More than anything, it excited him, and he hated that. He wanted to fight. Against his will, the corners of his lips tilted up into a smile.

Soriyamo jumped back and put his tips of his two blades together. Kaishu Seigyo did the same. "Jitaikesu!" They yelled in unison. The attacks formed in front of their blades and shot at each other. The two black orbs collided and reacted, creating an explosion of dark energy that blew all three of them backward. Waichei got up first since he was the farthest away from the explosion. Kaishu Seigyo was next, then Soriyamo. It was clear that Soriyamo took more of a beating during their initial exchange than his opponent did.

"What's the matter?" Kaishu Seigyo sneered. "Are you hurting already?"

"No…" Soriyamo muttered. "I'm just finally warm."

* * *

Jiino opened his eyes for the first time in three days, then fell onto his back, his face soaked from sweat. "It was a success." He told himself. "They're all fighting their respective targets, now."

He sighed and sat up, resting his elbows just above his knees. _It's time. My revenge starts now._ He smiled. _Everyone here shall know the pain of betrayal. Mutiny. Treason from within yourself. I've faced nothing but that for several decades. There is no greater pain._ Then he scowled hand grabbed his head with his hands. _I no longer know who to blame. I just know...everyone will pay. Everyone will face the wrath of hangyaku._


	52. Shirako and the Wolf

_Chapter XCIV: Shirako and the Wolf_

Martin stood at the center of the crater he'd made less than five minutes prior. Mr. Rievere sat upon a tree branch just outside the blast radius. Shirako faced his blue-haired zanpakuto just ten meters away from Martin.

Shirako looked back at his former student. "Martin, back away. Let me handle this."

"But…" Martin protested.

"This is my fight." Shirako muttered. "It's my zanpakuto, and it's my problem to solve. I don't need to drag anyone else into this."

"Martin." Mr. Rievere called. "Let your friend be and come here."

Shirako quickly shot a glance up to the tree branch where the informant was sitting. _What? I didn't even notice he was there._ Mr. Rievere waved at him. "Martin talks about you a lot, Shirako Yasufumi."

"How do you know my name?" He asked.

"I know a lot of things that many people would not expect." Mr. Rievere said. "Some would say I know everything. Although, I have not mastered Wisdom."

"And what's your name?" Shirako inquired. "It's impressive that you were able to hide yourself in plain sight."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I've had 50,000 years of practice doing exactly that." He replied. "And I go by Mr. Rievere."

Shirako stared at him for a little while longer as if trying to figure something out. Eventually, he looked away and said, "just watch yourself. The aura you're giving off makes me...uncomfortable."

Mr. Rievere closed his already squinted eyes and smiled. "Of course."

"Are you done with your little chat?" Yabokami Seigyo asked in his deep voice.

"I apologize for the wait." Shirako responded. "Shall we begin now?"

Yabokami Seigyo grew three long blades out of the top of each wrist. They extended long past his fists. "I was created to kill you. I was literally born ready."

"Hide, but do not fear." Shirako muttered. "Yabokami Seigyo." The same three blades grew out of Shirako's sleeves as he placed himself in a fighting position. "Let's go." He transformed into a Super Saiyan 5.

The two shot at each other. As they clashed blades, they hopped around, bounding off tree branches with perfect precision, like wild animals. The initial skirmish lasted no longer than twenty seconds. They landed back on the ground and stood still, neither of them breathing hard in the slightest. Martin watched in awe, almost unable to comprehend what he just saw. He could barely keep up with their movements. Shirako's sleeve ripped at his forearm. He hardly acknowledged it. Then, the trees began to crack. They fell from clean incisions just meters above the ground. Thin logs fell with the tops of the trees: results of the triple bladed claws both warriors wielded.

"Martin, go up with Mr. Rievere." Shirako told him. "I want you to watch this fight. My zanpakuto lends me the instinct of a wild animal. Instead of power, it focuses on speed and precision. If you keep going on the route of brute force like you are now, it will be opponents like me that will bring your downfall."

Martin didn't protest. Not after the demonstration he just saw. He silently accepted and jumped to the tree branch that Mr. Rievere was sitting on. He did not let his guard down, however. Something about this was off. Shirako said that this fight should be easy for him. And yet, it was clear that he'd lost that skirmish.

Shirako stepped forward again. "Let's turn it up a notch." He said as he raised his own battle power. Soon, his hair was red and his fur gold. He launched himself at his own zanpakuto like a long jumper: both his hands and feet in front of him. He slashed downward with both his hands at the same time. Yabokami Seigyo blocked the attack by making an "O" shape above his head. His feet were still pushed into the dirt and debris below. Shirako left go with his right hand and swung again, this time from the side. The zanpakuto blocked this as well. Shirako jumped off his opponent, and his feet barely touched the ground before he dashed in again. This time, he went behind. He planted his feet horizontally on one of the longer tree stumps left over from their initial exchange, dislodging its roots as he pushed himself off toward his zanpakuto. Yabokami Seigyo turned around just in time to flip his claw up in front of him to reduce the damage he was about to receive. The impact of both all six of Shirako's short blades sent the zanpakuto flying past Mr. Rievere's tree into where the forest was dense.

Staying calm, Shirako followed his opponent. He ran with a graceful stride.

"Shirako, you've won!" Martin shouted. "His power level is gone."

Mr. Rievere smiled. "Even I can't sense it at all."

Shirako stayed focused. And soon Martin knew why. He was uneasy for a reason. Even though there was no power level to sense, the zanpakuto was still there.

"This is my bankai." Shirako told them. "It's basic function is essentially perfect stealth." He slowed down to a walk, and eventually got far enough into the forest where Martin and Mr. Rievere could not see him. "Bankai. Moikodaibu Yabokami Seigyo." His blade rippled, then disappeared.

It then got quiet. One could hear each leaf ripple on every tree in the forest when even the slightest breeze passed through. Even though it was nearly noon, Shirako could barely see. The forest was so dense where he was, it was nearly pitch black. Realizing it was no use, he closed his eyes. The life force was the trees around him was extremely weak, but with his heightened senses granted to him by his bankai, he could feel their energies clearly. He began to move slowly. He knew his zanpakuto was watching him. He could feel the gaze, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

_Shirako._ A voice came from inside his head. _Let me handle this. It's impossible for you._

"Yabokami Seigyo." Shirako responded. "This isn't a fight that I can sit out of."

_I understand how you feel, but you can't win. There's no way for you to sense him._

"Nothing can change that."

_I know, but he can't sense me._ Yabokami Seigyo told him. _I can defeat him._

"It's okay." Shirako muttered. "I already have a plan."

_If you say so._

There was a laughter that echoed throughout the trees. It seemed to come from every direction at once. This was a part of the bankai's powers. "You may have me beaten me in raw physical power, but you can never win. I will always have the superior stealth, no matter what you do."

"I know that." Shirako called back. "However, there are some things that you can never beat me in. As a being whose basis is reiatsu, you will never surpass my fighting power."

"What good is fighting power if you can't hit me?" The evil zanpakuto asked.

"There is always a way." Shirako said. "If I've learned one thing from Soriyamo, it's that."

"You're wrong. There is no way." Yabokami Seigyo said with a laugh at the end. "My stealth is perfect. It was crafted to be perfect. That's why that kid Nimaiya cast us into the Dangai. We were made to be unstoppable."

"Your hubris will be your undoing." Shirako retorted. "You should never underestimate the power of a Saiyan."

"Don't be stupid." Yabokami Seigyo snarled. "I am going to kill you, Saiyan or not."

There was an uneasy feeling in Shirako's stomach, telling him the fight was nearly over. Yabokami Seigyo was about to make his attack, and this would be his one and only chance for a counterattack. His muscles tensed up. It became completely silent once again. Then a twig broke on the ground. Shirako immediately turned and dashed the opposite way.

_Shirako, he's trapping you! That was a diversion!_

Shirako didn't respond. He exited the forest into the crater of charred wood that martin had created just minutes earlier. He felt the wind shift right in front of him. In instinct, he brought his claw hardened fists up to protect himself. Before he knew it, he was in full on battle again. He could only react to the slight perturbations in the air that signaled where Yabokami Seigyo's attacks would come from. This disadvantage completely cancelled out any upper hand Shirako had in strength. In fact, he was pushed completely to the defensive since he couldn't tell where his opponent was until the instant before he attacked. There was nothing he could do. Continuing like this, he would eventually tire and be killed. If only he could catch one of the attacks.

Martin was hearing every clash of the blade-like claws below him, but he couldn't see anything except some black dust being thrown up into the air every once in a while. Anxiety was bubbling up in him. This couldn't continue for long. He knew something was about to happen.

Black leaves were thrown up into the air, and the two fighters appeared still in the center of the disturbance. Martin's heart sank. Coming out of Shirako's lower back were three claws, which belonged to Yabokami Seigyo. "No!" He shouted.

He got up to fly down and help Shirako, but Mr. Rievere stopped him.

Shirako grabbed the clone of his zanpakuto by the forearm. "I've got you." He smiled. "You said yourself, I have you beaten in raw strength. You can't escape from my grip."

Yabokami Seigyo's smile turned into a growl. "You bastard. What a cheap trick."

"This is a fight to the death between the two of us. As long as I don't involve anyone else unnecessarily, anything goes." Shirako muttered. He raised his left hand to the zanpakuto's face, a strong energy blast forming in his palm. "It's over."

Yabokami Seigyo shut his eyes. Whether it was out of fear or defiance, Shirako didn't know. He released the attack to end his opponent's life. Yabokami Seigyo's body fell limply to the side, then turned into light blue reiatsu and dissolved into the air. Shirako then, fell to his knees, then onto the ground, his breaths becoming shorter and more labored. Mr. Rievere, seeing that the fight was over, finally let Martin go tend to his former master.

"Shirako!" Martin yelled as he flew down. He lifted Shirako's head up with one hand and pressed down on the wounds with the other. "Stay with me."

"Martin." Shirako smiled. "There's nothing to worry about. I've survived worse wounds. I'm lucky to be conscious right now. It's nearly impossible to heal my own wounds, but I can at least stop the bleeding. Lend me your shoulder and help me stand up, please."

The two of them slowly stood up. Shirako put a finger to each of the wounds in his stomach. His fingers began to glow and pain began to show on his face. He was cauterizing his own wounds. Martin looked at Shirako in concern.

Mr. Rievere stared from the tree above. His gaze grew stern upon viewing Martin's care for his former master. Shirako felt Mr. Rievere's gaze and glared up at the tree where he was. Mr. Rievere returned the glare with a big, squinty-eyed smile.

Shirako sighed. "Martin, I don't trust that man at all."

"I know." Martin replied. "I don't either. But for some reason, I know he won't do anything. It's like he can't. Like he's not allowed to, or something."

Shirako looked back up at the tree. "I know I can't tell you not to train with him. But I will tell you to watch your back."

"Thanks, Shirako."

* * *

Jiino looked up from his meditation and smiled. "Good. It seems as though Yabokami Seigyo has done his job, albeit he had to sacrifice himself to do so." Then, his smile faded. "No, the zanpakuto wielder is still alive. Injured and weak, but alive. I guess I'll have to finish the job myself."

He stood up and made sure his black heavy armor was in place and secure. He was coming from the southern forest, trying to intercept his prey coming from the east. As he travelled north, the trees eventually started to thin out. He saw a small house in the opening, with two people walking out of another forest to the east. One was a muscular coffee-skinned man in a tank top, and the other was a blonde man who seemed to be having trouble walking. He smiled, knowing who it was he was about to kill.

"I don't think so." Another man tapped his shoulder.

Jiino turned around, astonished that he couldn't sense the presence before it snuck up on him. "Who are you?" He demanded. A smiling man with purple hair stood in front of him now.

"That is unimportant. I'm here to divert you from interfering with affairs here."

"What's it to you?" Jiino pushed Mr. Rievere. "If you want to live, then I suggest you get out of here."

"No."

"What did you say?"

"I said no." Mr. Rievere said. His smile faded. "Listen, punk. You have no idea what you're dealing with here. You're attempting to trifle with something that my organization must keep safe for now."

"And what organization would that be?" Jiino asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm talking about the Shinden Kokuto. You haven't heard of us?" Mr. Rievere put a smile back on. "That's good."


	53. Collector, Divine Decision

_Chapter XCV: Collector, Divine Decision_

Waichei's hair was blown almost straight back due to the wind Soriyamo was causing through his Super Saiyan 6 powerup. A red aura lit the entire southern forest, and Soriyamo looked back at his comrade. "Stand back, Waichei. This may get messy." He said.

"I can help you, Soriyamo." Waichei responded. "I want to help."

"Unfortunately, this is a fight for me to resolve on my own. I can't bring myself to willingly put a comrade in danger because of my own problems." Soriyamo told him. "Don't worry. I can handle this."

Waichei silently understood Soriyamo's sentiment. He knew that if he were in Soriyamo's situation, he would do the same. It didn't make it any easier to swallow. Being sidelined was a struggle for the man.

"Will we be able to settle this without using bankai?" Kaishu Seigyo asked.

"I doubt it." Soriyamo answered. "But there's no point in going straight to bankai, is there?"

"But we already warmed up." The zanpakuto smirked. "And I'm itching to kill you."

"I'm itching to get to the bottom of this." Soriyamo retorted. Suddenly, he lunged at his opponent. He swung one of his scythes down from the top. Kaishu Seigyo stepped forward and knelt down. He moved a scythe behind his head, which caught Soriyamo's before it could hit him. He shoved it back, which in turn pulled Soriyamo forward. He turned his other blade around and jabbed it toward his opponent's stomach. Soriyamo flipped over his zanpakuto's head, then immediately swung his other scythe horizontally at Kaishu Seigyo. The Collector grabbed Soriyamo's hand just before the tip of the blade pierced his hip, twisting it until the scythe fell to the ground.

Soriyamo did a backflip to create distance between him and his opponent, although now he only had one weapon. He swung his remaining scythe diagonally downward, and then a black mass protruded from the edge of his blade and shot toward the zanpakuto in the shape of a concave kite. Kaishu Seigyo returned the favor. The attacks collided and shattered into oblivion.

Kaishu Seigyo stood up and sighed. "I'm tired of this." He muttered. "I told you already, I'm itching to kill you." The zanpakuto scowled. There was hate. But it wasn't his. It belonged to someone else. "Bankai!"

A black, dense energy, almost like a liquid, started falling off of the zanpakuto as his reiatsu skyrocketed. Soriyamo gritted his teeth as he watched what was unfolding. It wasn't often that he saw his own zanpakuto manifested in its bankai form.

Even Waichei got chills down his spine, and that hadn't happened since he was alive. The man that was now behind the black energy was Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo; there was a completely different aura. His hair was now completely slicked back, falling down to the middle of his back. He'd lost his overcoat on his gi, as well as his sleeves, which were ripped at his shoulders. His face was the most disturbing. He had a new, smaller set of eyes just below his main set, and lines extended like cracks in his face from the corners of his mouth to each ear. His mouth was like a fault in the planet that was his face. Or a Venus Flytrap. Waichei backed into a tree, then slid down into the fetal position, sweating bullets.

Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo caught this action out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, I forgot there was another here." He said with a smile. "My power is so dark, it is hard to stand for anyone who isn't used to it."

"Well, I'm used to it." Soriyamo responded. "Don't expect me to falter."

"Bring out your bankai, then."

"You don't have to tell me." Soriyamo's scythes turned black. The one that was still on the floor melted into the same black energy that was flooding off of Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo, then was transported onto the other scythe. "Bankai." He twirled the black mass in his hands and it became a larger, double bladed scythe.

Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo grinned, and the cracks in his cheeks opened up a little bit. He spun his weapon above his head a couple of times, then drove one of the blades into the ground. _"Saishu Kuroido."_

Soriyamo knew exactly what was going on. He rushed over to Waichei and covered his body with his own. The trees started to lean in toward the zanpakuto. Suddenly, Soriyamo felt a deathly force pulling him back, away from the man he was trying to protect. The force persisted for only ten seconds, but it felt like ten minutes. Once it was over, he glanced around him. The trees were dead, mere shells that once held life. Their souls, their very essence, had been ripped out. He looked down at Waichei, who appeared to be fine. He sighed with relief. "Waichei…" He started. "You should get out of here. Your soul is in danger here."

Waichei nodded slowly. Most of his spirit shown earlier was gone. He simply was not accustomed to the darkness emanating from Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo. Soriyamo watched as he stumbled into the forest, and eventually out of sight.

Then, he turned around to face his opponent, who seemed to be waiting patiently for his attention. "I know you were aiming that attack at him." He scowled.

"What do you mean?" The zanpakuto asked. "_Saishu Kuroido_ is an omnistrike attack. It's not aimed at anything in particular."

"You know exactly what I mean." Soriyamo answered. "And I may not have mastered the attack myself, yet, but I can defend against it proficiently. Now that any other lifeforms are gone, that attack is obsolete."

"So, what do you plan to do now?"

Soriyamo twirled his weapon in front of him. _"Jitaikesu Hayate."_ The same black mass of energy formed in front of his blades, but this time, it was rotating violently. With a push, he shot the attack at his opponent at full force.

Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo simply sent one of the small quadrilateral attacks back, shattering the _Jitaikesu Hayate._ Then both of them were still. "It is clear...that we can both counter each other's energy attacks. This will get us nowhere." The zanpakuto said. He then removed his ripped gi from his torso, letting it hang by his legs. "We must decide this through a warrior's duel. By blades only."

Soriyamo nodded in agreement. "Using a weapon like this requires intense athleticism." He removed his jade green shirt, revealing a completely toned and chiseled torso. With a thin waist and broad shoulders, his body was perfect for swinging around a large, double bladed weapon. "I couldn't think of a better way to come to a conclusion."

Soriyamo twirled his scythe in a figure eight form. Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo ran at his opponent, raising his blade above his head. He swung down at Soriyamo, and the attack was parried to the left by Soriyamo's figure eights. Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo used the momentum to swing his other blade in at Soriyamo's neck. Soriyamo knocked that attack upward, then swung as fast as he could at his zanpakuto's waist. Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo blocked it then attacked again.

The fight continued in this fashion, too fast for the eye to see. Their blades simply looked as if they were blurry silver rings as they twirled about. Each clang of blades striking each other was drowned out by the next.

Soriyamo could feel himself starting to tire. Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo was showing no sign of it. Soriyamo felt a blade rip across his stomach. He winced and looked down. The pain was more than what the wound really was. Another ability of Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo. As if his essence was trying to escape out of his wound, it felt like it was on fire.

The zanpakuto swung down on the top of Soriyamo's head. It was blocked by the middle of the weapon's handle. Suddenly, Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo released his attack and swung upward, slicing up Soriyamo's stomach and chest. A sheet of blood spurted out of his wound. He threw his arms back and fell backward to the floor.

"You lose, Soriyamo." Doku no Hana Kaishu Seigyo sneered. As his smile widened, the cracks in the side of his face separated even further. He raised the blade over his head, and all four of his eyes widened as he began to swing down, absolutely entranced by his own desire to kill his opponent. Then, he froze.

A burn-scarred hand stuck into his back, and protruded out through his stomach. His face filled with rage as he looked behind him to see Waichei. "I couldn't bring myself to leave you behind, Soriyamo."

"You think this will kill me?" The zanpakuto scowled. "It will take a lot more than this to-" Suddenly, his head fell to the floor after a silver blur zipped through his neck. Soriyamo was holding his weapon up, panting harder than he had in a long time. Within a couple of seconds, the zanpakuto turned back into reishi, and dissolved into the air. His body never fell to the floor.

Soriyamo leaned back against a tree. "Waichei...why did you come back? You risked your life. This was my issue to solve, there was no reason for you to get involved."

Waichei gave a weak smile that twitch every once in a while. "You said yourself, we're comrades." He said. "It's my duty to risk my life for my comrades."

"But…"

"I was terrified of that thing, Soriyamo. But if I'm ever going to redeem myself, I can't let fear control me. I have to be in control of myself. That's what I've been training for these four months."

"Waichei…" Soriyamo stammered. "You're...really pushing yourself, aren't you?"

"Come on, I'll take you back to the house. Get on my back."

* * *

"Your creator obviously didn't know of your powers when he created you." Kasae said. "I alone wield the zanpakuto blessed by the Holy Mother. She knows all, and she knows you are a fake."

"That I am a clone means nothing. The fact is, I fight on the side of justice. You have wronged my creator, and it is my purpose to get revenge." Kihakuya Seigyo responded.

"A simple answer to this issue," Kasae said, "is to let the Holy Mother decide for us."

"I agree."

The two of them raised their reiatsus together. A golden, molten aura formed around them, and then they yelled, "BANKAI!" in unison. A giant divine ring formed behind each of their heads. A black shell hardened around their right arms and wrapped around their upper backs. "Tenyo Migoto Kihakuya Seigyo."

The black shell was more invasive on the zanpakuto than on Kasae. It covered half his face. Also, his irises became purple, and his pupils white. "I am the real Tenyo Migoto Kihakuya Seigyo."

Sairyo was watching the whole exchange from just inside the house. She saw it all go down. There was only one attack, and it was over in just a second. It was up to fate, and she had no idea who it would shine upon.

Kasae's arm jolted, and two thin blades shot out of the black shell covering his right hand. The same happened with Tenyo Migoto Kihakuya Seigyo. They ran toward each other, then swung. There was a flash of light, then they had switched positions, facing opposite of each other.

Kihakuya Seigyo winced. "Kasae...was I really...in the wrong?" Kasae turned around.

"Your suffering is finally over." He said. "I'll make you whoever did this pay."

The zanpakuto's eyes rolled back into his head, and from right shoulder to left waist, he split in two. His two halves then turned into reishi and disappeared. The reishi floated through Kasae's hand, and then he closed it into a fist.

He then saw Sairyo at the door watching him with concerned eyes. He turned toward her. As he started walking, his chest split open, and blood fell to the ground in puddles in front of him. He was still trying to walk when he fell to the floor.

Sairyo ran to him. "Kasae!" She yelled. She knelt beside him and turned him onto his back. "Stay with me!"

Kasae reached weakly up to her face and touched her cheek. "Sai...ryo…"

"Don't talk." She commanded. "You're losing a lot of blood. I need to try to stop the bleeding."

"The Holy Mother...she turned me away." Kasae managed. His chest started glowing as the energy from Sairyo began flowing in.

_She did not reject us._ Kihakuya Seigyo said within Kasae's mind. _She was trying to tell you something._

"I...am morally flawed." Kasae muttered. "I am morally flawed."

_She gave you a second chance, Kasae. You have to take advantage of it._


	54. Underworld Flame Dragon

_Chapter XCVI: Underworld Flame Dragon_

"I am still not sure." Jigoku Kara no Hono said.

"Not sure of what?" Dalton asked him.

"I'm not sure if I made the right choice in choosing you."

"You're wondering about that now? I've been with you for over half of my life."

"That may be, but your life has been incredibly short compared to mine. I saw the Second Omniversal War. I was once wielded by another."

Dalton tried not to let that shake him. He looked down at his sword. His zanpakuto, covered in flame. The blade he thought was his. _Is this true?_ He asked in his mind.

_It is. I was once wielded by a Makara Warrior from this Universe, called Kyono Yogan._

"Kyono Yogan…" He muttered aloud. "I've heard that name before."

Jigoku Kara no Hono smiled, his black sclerae disappearing into a squint. "You know that name? Impressive. You must know your history."

"It was Shihebi who told me about it." Dalton replied. "I don't know anything about the Second Omniversal War or any of these Makara Warriors. I just know they aren't around anymore, so I don't have to know about them."

"You should be careful how you talk." The zanpakuto told him. "Before the War, Makara Warriors belonged only to the Makara clan. However, as the war spread, and borders between clans became blurry, the term Makara Warrior began to be used for anyone that had mastered a Power, or was proficient in several. Before you know it, the age of the Makara Warriors will return. Now, we are exiting a dark age of Power. The catalyst was the death of Majin Buu, or even earlier. I've been observing closely for 50,000 years. The catalyst of the return of the Makara Warriors...could have actually been the birth of you and your brother."

"What does that mean?"

"I told you, I watched closely for the last 50,000 years. I waited for someone exactly like you."

"Exactly like me?"

"Yes. The child of direct descendants of both the Saiyan and Angel lineage. Blood of both the Savage and Divine Children."

"I don't believe you." Dalton spat and held his zanpakuto up to face his opponent. "I'm no Angel. I'm a Saiyan, and that's it."

"You don't believe that your mother was the daughter of the former Angel of Universe 7? His name was Enryu Kenshin."

Dalton gripped his sword even harder. "That's right, I don't believe you. Why should I believe you? How do you even notice all of this?"

"Foolish boy. Have you no ears? I have been floating aimlessly as an entity with no body for 50,000 years. What could I have done but observe my surroundings while waiting for you to be born so I could materialize by your side?"

Dalton scowled. "You're an evil incarnation of my zanpakuto. Why would I believe anything you say?"

"You're desperately trying to deny it. As if you're afraid to be at the center of all of this. Why do you look so angry at me right now?" Jigoku Kara no Hono asked. "It is because you know I am telling the truth."

Dalton yelled and swung his blade as it burst into flames and morphed into the shape of a dragon. Jigoku Kara no Hono laughed as he jumped back to avoid the giant dragon's belly crashing into the floor.

"You forget that I wield the same blade!" There was suddenly another dragon, identical to the first. From afar, one could only see two giant dragons that looked like they flew straight out of Hell fighting each other on the top of a mountain.

"I will defeat you!" Dalton shouted.

"Good! Use your rage!" Jigoku Kara no Hono called out. "You want to kill me. You hate me! Your anger makes you powerful. Because of your anger, you were able to become a Super Saiyan 5."

Dalton flew up into the air. _"Jigoku Seppen!"_ He yelled. His dragon spread its wings and took a deep inhale all at once. It acted as if it were living, as if it were its own creature. It then exhaled its scorching fire breath and flapped its wings, compressing the fire into a wall-like sheet of pure fire that drove into the floor creating a massive crack in the mountain.

The zanpakuto didn't dodge the attack. Instead, he stood right in its way, watching confidently as it approached him with lightning speed. He raised his sword and his dragon inhaled Dalton's attack. He held it still for what seemed like hours. No one moved. Then, he suddenly lowered his sword, and the dragon let the attack back out, flying back to its original sender. However, this time, the flames were compressed differently to act like an arrow.

Dalton barely had any time to react. He pulled both of his forearms up to his face in an 'x' form to block, and the fire arrow exploded on impact. Smoke blocked both of their visions for nearly a full minute. When it cleared they were both standing in the same positions that they had been just before the attack hit. There was a small, neat hole that went through both of Dalton's forearms. He winced as he brought them down to his sides to reveal his face, blood splattered in four diagonal directions sprouting from right between his eyes. His right arm dropped to his side, still clutching his sword, while his left hand clutched his face.

Jigoku Kara no Hono started ascending up toward him. His own zanpakuto began to speak to him in his head. _He is coming for you, Dalton. You must stay alert._

"He reflected my attack so effortlessly." Dalton muttered aloud.

_Are you going to give up because of that?_

"It's over already. If I loosen my grip on my sword at all, I won't be able to pick it up again. The muscles in my forearm have been rendered useless."

_If you give up, then I really have chosen wrong._

"Do I have a choice?"

_You always have a choice, Dalton. And you are not fighting alone. That is your advantage._ His zanpakuto told him. Dalton felt a strange warmth that started in his back, then wrapped around him like a spoon. It then moved down to his hands. _You can release your weapon. Let the flames become your arms._

"You're right. I have more in me than one would think." Dalton said. He closed his eyes, and a golden aura began to billow up around him. With a yell, he released his energy, and became a Super Saiyan 5. However, he did not stop there. He kept pushing his energy out until his aura seemed to catch fire. His eyes became red and his pupils became slits. Dragon form. This was the most power he had ever channeled, but after meditating for months and having a much closer relationship with his zanpakuto than ever before, he found himself able to manage it well. Flames encased his arms. He winced as he used his left hand to cauterize the wound on his face. He let go of his sword and let his forearm relax, and watched as the sword remained suspended within the fire, entirely in his control. Then he smiled, baring his sharp canines.

Jigoku Kara no Hono's eyes widened at the sight of this. "This cannot be. You can encase your body in flames? But that must mean…"

"What?" Dalton asked. "What must it mean?"

"This must be a fluke. You are merely seventeen years old. There is no way you could have…"

"What does he mean?" Dalton asked in a low voice, directed at his zanpakuto inside.

_What you have done is the first sign that you may be ready for Bankai. I knew you were able. He did not._

Dalton was surprised, but he smiled. "Bankai, huh…"

Jigoku Kara no Hono scowled. "I must kill you, now. It is the reason I was created."

"You seem afraid. That I'll achieve Bankai." Dalton sneered with newfound confidence.

"That's absurd. You've never beaten me in a fight. You couldn't possibly have achieved it."

Dalton let out even more energy, and the flames grew hotter. _Confidence. Confidence in yourself, and in me, your zanpakuto. This is what it means to truly wield a zanpakuto._

He and his zanpakuto shot at each other. Dalton spun around and the back of his foot drove into Jigoku Kara no Hono's forearm. The dragons clashed above them. The zanpakuto repelled his attack, and with the same arm, punched him in the stomach. Dalton staggered back, but then swung his right arm downward. With his arms encased in flames, it was as if the dragon was but a continuation of his arm. Dalton's dragon fell onto Jigoku Kara no Hono. He smiled. But then, the dragon was pushed back up by a red flaming aura. He was standing under it, unscathed.

"Very impressive, Dalton." He sneered. "But let's see if you can withstand your own attack."

"We will see." Dalton responded confidently.

The true Jigoku Kara no Hono watched from Dalton's subconsciousness. _Dalton. You have grown up so much in the nine years we have been together. Now, you've learned one of the most important aspects of combat. The difference between confidence and cockiness. There was a time when you didn't believe in yourself, when you were very young. You got a taste of power, and surpassed you brother. You got cocky, then got put in your place. Now for the last six months, you have hated yourself. It's finally time you move forward with your new maturity, and conquer this foe in front of you. I've known I chose correctly from the beginning. I know you can do this._

Dalton knew that Jigoku Kara no Hono wasn't necessarily talking to him, but he heard every word. He smirked and let his opponent's dragon fall onto him. The flames burned. He felt his skin wanting to boil under the heat, but he didn't let it. It was nothing he couldn't handle. He had his zanpakuto. He then let his own flames out, to fight fire with fire. In a sphere around him, his own aura grew. He grew hotter, but it was a heat that he could handle rather than a heat that was trying to kill him. Then, he felt the weight of the dragon begin to lift off of him. Then he could see around him. The mountain was scorched, and Jigoku Kara no Hono was still standing in front of him, trying to hide his surprise.

"Well?" Dalton said. "I was able to fend it off. Now what?"

"Now…" Jigoku Kara no Hono muttered. "You still die."

Something suddenly jetted out of the ground at Dalton's feet. It was some sort of mixture of flames and energy, much like their fire auras. It came out in the shape of a dragon's claw and wrapped itself around Dalton's neck. More came out of the ground and held his hands at his hips and anchored his feet to the ground.

"You don't know this attack, do you?" Jigoku Kara no Hono asked. "I wouldn't think so. You are just a boy, and not able to wield a zanpakuto properly. You haven't even learned one of the easiest attacks I have.

"You dirty…" Dalton struggled to breathe.

"What? Did you think I would fight fair?" The zanpakuto laughed. "I was created to kill you, and that's what I will do." He walked up to Dalton and his aura grew stronger, heating and drying out his skin. He moved his face close to Dalton. "Give in. You have anger. It boils inside you. You want to kill me." He smiled. "Just try to kill me."

Dalton forced his eyes shut. The heat was immense. He couldn't stand it for much longer. He knew he had to act soon, or he would lose consciousness. Or even worse, lose himself to his anger. He had one advantage over his opponent that he knew would lead him to victory. It was two against one. His arms were currently at double their normal strength due to being encased in flames. He winced in pain as he moved his left arm. Jigoku Kara no Hono assumed it was because of his own heat.

"You seem to have chosen the coward's way out." The zanpakuto said. "Do you not have anything left to say to me."

Suddenly, Dalton looked him dead in the eyes. _"Galactic Cannonball."_

Jigoku Kara no Hono's expression fell as the green and purple energy spilled from Dalton's left palm into his stomach, and then out his back. The dragon claws retracted into the ground, and Dalton was finally able to catch his breath.

Jigoku Kara no Hono exhaled slowly, then smiled. "I don't know why, but I can't help but feel the least bit accomplished, even though I've been defeated. Despite the fact that I was created to kill you, I still harbor every memory of the real zanpakuto in your body. I think all of the false zanpakuto that man created feel the same way. We want to see you succeed. Our lives were a mistake, so you need to correct it."

"Jigoku Kara no Hono…" Dalton muttered.

"I have confirmed that it was not a mistake to choose you." He then turned into a mass of white energy, then dissolved into thin air.

Dalton then turned to face away from the mountain. _Where are you going?_ Jigoku Kara no Hono asked inside his head.

"There are others." Dalton said. "I need to help my friends."

_You cannot go. You must stay here and complete your meditation. That is the best way to help them. They can handle themselves._

"I can't just sit here."

_You must. You must trust them as well as you trust me. You must complete your training as soon as possible. The time to fight is not now. The time to fight will come, once you have mastered Mystic Form completely._

"But…" Dalton murmured longingly.

_You know what you must do._

Dalton felt the "x" shaped scar in the middle of his face. "I know what I have to do. If I cannot master Mystic form, it will have been for nothing." He proceeded to sit back down and began meditating once more.


	55. The Darkness in the Light

_Chapter XCVII__: The Darkness in the Light _

"All of your training under me has led you to this moment." Hikari Seigyo said. He released his grip from Dominick's throat. "Before I kill you, I would like to see how it has paid off."

Dominick jumped back immediately. He scowled at Hikari Seigyo out of a mixture of fear and anger. "You caught me off guard. I won't go down as easily as you might think." He raised his zanpakuto in a frontal stance at his opponent.

"I would hope not." Hikari Seigyo smiled. He turned so that Dominick faced his side, and he held two pure white blades by his hips. "And yet, I can sense your fear. Why don't you attack me first?"

"You're that confident?"

"You're not afraid? Your knuckles are becoming white from how tightly you're gripping that blade."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Dominick shouted as he leaped toward his opponent. He initially swung his zanpakuto downward at his head, but it was blocked, so he pulled back immediately and tried a different angle. He twirled his blade in front of him and swung upward diagonally, trying to sever the tendons in Hikari Seigyo's left leg. He then flipped backward once more, and upon landing launched immediately at the zanpakuto, swiftly delivering three strikes. All three were parried with ease, although on the last strike, the blades locked. There were three blades present, two from Hikari Seigyo, and one from Dominick.

Suddenly, Hikari Seigyo took one of his blades out of the equation, then used his right blade to twist Dominick's and force it out of his hand. With his left hand, he jabbed at Dominick, an attack that almost missed, but took some skin and blood out of his oblique. Upon grabbing the wound, Dominick determined that it was nothing serious.

"You're not impressing me so far." Hikari Seigyo sneered as he walked to the disarmed man in front of him.

Dominick jumped back once more, but this time, it was out of the smaller room and into the bigger training room. Although they had only been fighting for a few minutes, sweat was already starting to bead up on his forehead. Despite that, he gritted his teeth. "Snap!" He yelled. "Hikari Seigyo!"

The evil zanpakuto in front of him bared his teeth in a despicable grin. "Finally."

White energy began to materialize around Dominick's two hands, and soon enough, they were swords identical to the ones that Hikari Seigyo was holding.

Kujako came running out of a room to the left of Dominick. "What's going on here?" He exclaimed.

Dominick motioned for him to stay back. He complied. "Where is Kashito?" He asked.

"I don't know. I thought he was out here." Kujako answered. "Let me help you."

"No, Kujako. This is my fight. Just don't allow yourself to get hurt." Dominick then directed his voice to his opponent. "Did you or did you not do anything with Kashito?" He demanded.

Hikari Seigyo shrugged his shoulders. "I did nothing with the man. He left in a hurry right before when I got here. That's why I knew to disguise myself as him."

"You're a fiend." Dominick scowled, then let his energy out. His hair grew and became red while his body grew a golden fur.

"The famed Super Saiyan Inverse." Hikari Seigyo said. "Or, I should say Super Saiyan 6."

"This is my advantage over you, Hikari Seigyo."

"If you would call it an advantage. I'm sure you are aware that as a zanpakuto, I grow stronger as you do."

"I will never accept you as my zanpakuto."

"That is because you are weak. You are all weak. Even that man who used to call himself Hotokira. That is why I took the opportunity to leave when it was presented to me. Truly, I only have that man Jiino to thank for my freedom."

"Jiino?" Dominick asked.

"The man who summoned me, as well as all of the other zanpakuto who are trying to kill your friends."

Dominick, trying to get more information, attempted to remain calm. However, his fists became more and more clenched. "I see."

"I wonder how they are all doing?" Hikari Seigyo sneered. "Especially your younger brother, Dalton. He has always been under the thumb of that zanpakuto of his. I wouldn't be surprised if he got killed."

Dominick's power exploded in a fit of rage, and Hikari Seigyo had accomplished what he had planned to do. He wanted to draw out the Black Sclerae. There was a cloud of dust around Dominick's body. As it cleared, Hikari Seigyo saw a little bit of black fur. He smiled. _Good._ He thought. _He's no longer a threat. Just a mindless shell to bend to my will. Hotokira. Or what used to be Hotokira. You are mine._

The smoke was clear. Dominick's left sclera was black. In fact, the Black Sclera had overtaken roughly half of his entire body. A voice then spoke in his mind. _You can have this one. I don't have anything personal against him._

"Alright, I have about half of your strength. This should be enough." Dominick scowled at Hikari Seigyo. "Enough to dispose of you."

Hikari Seigyo's eyes widened a little bit, but he managed to keep his cool. "So you do have some consciousness left in you. Shall we put that to the test?"

"That's fine with me." They lunged at each other. Four blades now clashed and clanked at light speed. It was as if there were two battles going on at once. Dominick swung both of his blades at Hikari Seigyo's right side, and they were both blocked. Then, he removed his left blade and swung it behind his head and toward Hikari Seigyo's left side. That attack was blocked as well, but Dominick sent his left foot straight into the zanpakuto's chest. He stumbled backwards but quickly regained his balance. He then jumped toward Dominick and swung both swords down onto his head. Dominick blocked both blades with just one of his own, and then swung the other from below. Hikari Seigyo saw the attack, but not in time. The tip of the blade pierced his skin as it slashed up his torso. His torn gi fell forward like a loose flap and revealed a long cut that went nearly vertically all the way from his waist to his neck.

Dominick flicked his sword toward the ground and blood splattered on the floor. Hikari scowled and clutched his chest. _What power. _He thought. _This is just half of the Black Sclera? He's much more powerful than I remember. _Then he smiled. _However...the Black Sclera does not have a zanpakuto any longer, which means he cannot use bankai...and that means...he loses._

"You never cease to impress me, Dominick." Hikari Seigyo said in a low voice while beginning to pace back and forth in front of his opponent.

"You have something to smile about?" Dominick asked. "It must not be clear yet that I am stronger than you as I am now."

"As you are now?" The zanpakuto sneered. "Don't talk to me about 'as you are now'. Let's try 'as _I_ am now'."

"What does that mean?"

"You are stronger than me as _I _am now." Hikari Seigyo told him. "But don't worry. I will personally show you the magnitude of the difference in our power. You will see that you have no chance."

"I may surprise you."

"That may have been the case, but you failed to overlook one critical detail. In your battle with Liomara Tsubasuke, you used bankai to defeat him. However, that bankai that bankai you used was not truly yours."

"I know." Dominick replied. "I was because of the Black Sclera."

"You'll find that even though you're using the power of the Black Sclera right now, you won't be able to use bankai." Hikari Seigyo explained in a low voice. "Because the bankai you used in that battle...was me."

"...What did you say?"

"I will show you the difference in our power." Hikari Seigyo's blades began to glow with incredible luminance. A red mist began to swirl around the blades as they merged to become one. "Bankai." Suddenly, the zanpakuto's entire body began to glow white and a red mist began to spiral around him as well as the blade. Then, he became entirely encased in the red smoke. Dominick took a step back. When the smoke cleared it revealed Hikari Seigyo, who looked like nothing that he'd ever seen before. He looked younger, rejuvenated. His beard was gone, and so were the bags under his eyes from before. His skin had turned completely white, and it gave off a slight glow. The white gi from before exposing his entire torso, with red tattoos covering it in a spiral formation. The red tattoos extended up to his face and stopped just under his eyes, as well as going all the way down his arms. The red blade extended near the floor, starting with the black hilt.

Dominick readied his blades. He had the advantage in battle power. Hikari Seigyo had the advantage in reiatsu. The zanpakuto lunged at him. Dominick prepared to block whatever attack was coming, but then he realized his opponent had disappeared. He quickly became aware of the true difference in their power.

* * *

Kashito noticed the entrance of many strange life forms into Otherworld. One, however, stood out from the rest. An old power, not familiar, but he knew it was one that had seen more than it needed to. He also knew that it was here with ill-intent. He left right away, not wanting to hesitate. He needed to cut this threat down at its root, before it became a real issue like the assault on the Grand Kai's palace.

He headed into the southern forest from the west and travelled southeast toward the power. Soon, the forest became dense, and he could no longer move at breakneck speeds. He slowed to a jog, then to a walk as he got closer. He felt some sort of power move by him, right in the direction he came from. It was heading for his place. He wanted to turn back, but cutting down the threat in front of him was the priority. With Grand Kai's mental state decreasing, he was the one to protect Otherworld. _Kujako or Dominick...I trust you guys to deal with it on your own._

The forest was now so thick that he had to turn sideways to squeeze through most gaps in between trees. Suddenly, the power he felt was gone. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. Then he decided to keep traversing in the direction he'd originally sensed the power. Pretty soon, the trees started becoming more sparse, giving him more room to walk around, but that made him feel no more comfortable. The wood on the trees suddenly was much darker, almost black, even. The leaves were bigger as well, allowing much less light to enter this part of the forest. Then he realized where he was. He hadn't realized he'd gone this far south.

"The Akurai Forest." Kashito muttered to himself. "It's possible that whatever outsider I sensed ended up here and took his own life from the mental strain this forest put on him."

"Not likely." A voice said behind him. "You said yourself that this life form had already seen a lot in its life. The strain from this forest wouldn't be enough to take the life of someone like that, would it?"

Kashito turned around. Somehow, he expected the man to show up here. "Akamusa."

"You're leaving Dominick and Kujako to fight an enemy they cannot possibly defeat."

"How do you know that?" Kashito demanded.

"I know a lot of things, Kashito."

"I'm not in the mood for this. I need to find this threat and cut it down before he causes innocent lives to be in danger."

"You are not at liberty to decide whether or not I stay or leave."

"I will not allow you to stop me." Kashito snapped. His eyes glowed a blue-green color and the floor froze around his feet. At his fingertips, icicles formed into sharp points. He pointed his fingers at the ground, and the thin icicles shot into the ground. Nothing happened for a second, and then they shot back out of the ground at Akamusa. They missed, somehow, but Kashito didn't give himself the second to question it. He jumped up into the air and shot what looked like several hundred fingertip-sized icicles at his opponent. A cloud of icy dust billowed up from the ground. Kashito let out a slow exhale and watched as the cloud of dust dissipated.

Behind the icy dust was Akamusa, unphased, standing just as he was before. His unwavering, unblinking face stared up at Kashito and the corners of his mouth were tilted up into a slight smile.

"You mustn't attack our master, Little Cousin." A new voice spoke.

"Shinrou, can't you see this man betrayed us a long time ago-" Kashito then realized exactly who the voice belonged to. "Shinrou..?"

"Why are you surprised to see me?" He asked. His hair was just as white as both Akamusa's and Kashito's. His face was decorated with two purple streaks on each cheek, and his wavy hair covered his entire forehead and fell just down to his shoulders. He had dark bags under his eyes, like he was exhausted, and he wore a dark green gi and white sweatpants.

"Shinrou...aren't you...dead?"

"Of course I am. You are too, you know."

"No, that's not what I meant." Kashito's voice was clearly shaken. "You were…"

At this point, Akamusa butt in. "He was killed, yes. Killed by me, that is."


	56. An Escaped Death Sentence

_Chapter XCVIII__: An Escaped Death Sentence_

Rari and Togosari Seigyo stood mere inches from each other, both trying to intimidate the other. Rari was easily over 30 centimeters taller than the zanpakuto, but the boy did not back off in the slightest. He only stared up at Rari with his wide, sharp-toothed grin.

"You are too confident for a boy of your size." Rari mocked as he folded his arms.

"Do you really think my size has anything to do with my power?"

"No, but I know your fighting power is reflected in Lisa's, and I have a much greater fighting power than her."

Togosari Seigyo laughed. "So you think you'll have an easy time with me? I'll show you what an easy time _really _is!"

He launched into the air, spinning with his arms spread out. Rari looked back to his three comrades. "Get Nyoriyo somewhere safe!" He called to them. Togosari Seigyo opened his mouth wide, and let out something that sounded like a mix between a deep growl and a high pitched scream. Almost instantly after that sound hit their eardrums, collapsed to their knees. Rari felt as if his body wanted to collapse in on itself. Nyoriyo, who already couldn't breathe, started flailing around wildly, yet quietly. He was trying to scream, but no sound was coming out.

After a few seconds, Rari looked up to see Togosari Seigyo still floating in the air, seemingly doing nothing but looking down on his opponents. Soon, the crushing feeling was wearing off. _At least it's not permanent. I can deal with this._

"That was a practice run!" The zanpakuto called down to the fodder below him. "Next time, I won't hesitate to wrench all of your heads off with my chains!"

Rari slowly stood up. "Who knew…" He muttered. "Who knew a little kid could cause so much trouble?" He gathered his energy, then it rose within his body and he transformed into a Super Saiyan 5.

"Impressive." Togosari Seigyo said. "I take it you're ready for the next round?" Without warning, he let out the screech from earlier. Rari once again felt the crushing feeling, but it was nowhere near as bad as the first time. He felt the urge to drop to his knees, but was able to remain standing. He looked down to the ground to see a pool of sweat being absorbed into the dirt below him. He tried to ignore the feeling weighing down on him, and looked back up at his opponent, who was now right in front of him, and closing in with lightning speed and little effort.

There was a bright flash in front of Rari's eyes as the chains of Togosari Seigyo whipped about toward his body. In front of him stood a man that he rarely saw fight seriously, who had likely just saved his life. "Yosuhiro!"

He had come in from the side. With weapons like chains, it was easy to deflect an attack from the side, however with large risk to the one deflecting. Luckily, Yosuhiro managed to avoid the blades on the end of the chains. Togosari Seigyo rolled his eyes as he retrieved his chains at once to regroup.

Yosuhiro looked back at Rari. "We found a safe place for Nyoriyo. I left Kaoren to take care of his brother."

"That's good." Rari said. "Someone needs to stay with him."

"You seem to know more about this little boy than we do." Yosuhiro acknowledged the zanpakuto, who smiled deviously back at him. "But now probably isn't the time to ask about that, is it?"

"No, but I'd like to know how you were able to avoid the effects of that screech just now." Rari responded. "You didn't seem like it affected you at all."

"I felt it a little bit." Yosuhiro answered. "So did Kaoren and Nyoriyo. But it was like a little twinge, like I was training in extra gravity or something. However, it did seem quieter this time."

"Of course it did; you were farther away…" Rari's thoughts trailed off and the two of them seemed to have the same thought at the same time. "The quieter the screech, the lesser the magnitude of the effects. It's a sound-based attack."

Yosuhiro nodded, then looked back at the child zanpakuto, who snickered.

"You think you've got me all figured out? Then let's give it another try. I'll even give you time to prepare. But this time, I really will kill you where you stand...both of you." He slowly inhaled as a mocking gesture of mercy. Both Rari and Yosuhiro covered their ears as tightly as they could. They thought about running away, but that was not much of an option because it would immediately put them on the defensive before they got the chance to attack. Then the screech came, this time with more force than the last. Much more force than the last. Both of them dropped to their knees and began panting wildly. Togosari Seigyo laughed without remorse, then began swinging his chains in circles on either side of his body. "You really thought covering your ears would stop _my _attack?!" Togosari Seigyo exclaimed.

Rari struggled to even keep himself on his hands and knees, and so did Yosuhiro. _How?! _Rari thought to himself, baffled. _After covering our ears, the intensity of the screech was cut down to a fraction of what it was last time! So why did this one hurt so much more?!_

"It's over for you." Togosari Seigyo sneered. "I'll finish you weaklings off, and then I'll go find Lisa and kill her as well."

Blood rushed to Rari's head as he filled with rage, but he was still unable to move. The zanpakuto ceased spinning the chains and flung them right at his victims, and they were just about to hit their targets just as two identical chains came in and tangled with those of Togosari Seigyo, throwing them off of their path. Togosari Seigyo scowled at yet another inconvenience until he saw exactly what just stopped his attack. Then, his toothy grin returned.

"So, I didn't even have to go looking for you." He mocked. "You came right to me, Lisa."

* * *

Kujako had no choice but to watch as Dominick was brutally beaten by Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo. Dominick was absolutely no match for the bankai he once used to defeat Liomara Tsubasuke. And Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo was not even using a blade. He was beating his opponent, who was armed with two blades, with his bare hands.

Kujako could not tell if Dominick was conscious at this point. He was still maintaining his Super Saiyan 6 form, but Kujako had no idea how much longer he could hold out.

Dominick was then lying on the floor. Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo picked him up by the hair and held his head at face level. Now that they were still, Kujako could see that Dominick was still very much awake. Then, Kujako froze in fear. The zanpakuto looked directly at him. His black sclera stabbed into his soul, and his slight yet cunning smile, pierced into his mental defenses. Fear engulfed the saiyan.

"You don't think you should help your friend here?" Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo asked. Then there was complete silence. Kujako had to force himself to stop shaking. He'd never seen eyes like this before, besides when he died all those years ago, not too long after the majority of the other Saiyans here died. But that was 7,000 years ago. He'd been taken in by Kashito and Shinrou for training since they saw potential in him. Then Shinrou died almost two years ago. Even when he came face to face with Liomara just a few months ago, it couldn't compare. In Liomara's eyes, there was some element of remorse. In the eyes of this man, there was nothing. He was pure evil. Kujako's sweat ran cold.

_What would Kashito do? _That was a stupid question. _There's no point thinking like Kashito. He's nothing like me. Kashito is the strongest, and I'm just some fool that likes to play games. I can never live up to…_

He then caught Dominick's eye, looking through a bloodied eyelid. "Kujako...run. Get out of here."

Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo looked down at Dominick, then looked back at Kujako. "You can run if you want. I won't stop you. I have other priorities."

Kujako's breathing began to speed up. With every fiber of his body, he wanted to obey Dominick and run. But what would that make him? It would make him useless. A coward? Maybe. He didn't care about that. But he would be useless to Kashito, the man to whom he owed his life. _I haven't known Dominick that long. He's not that close of a friend to me._ _I could run away, and it wouldn't make a difference to me. But then...how the hell...would I be able to face Kashito?!_

"I'm going to end this." Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo pulled back his sword, preparing for a jab. It didn't matter where it hit its target. If it pierced all the way through, it was over. Kuajko yelled and turned into a Super Saiyan 5. He shut his eyes tight and charged blindly out toward Dominick and his zanpakuto.

He was scared. He was scared of what came after the Otherworld. He was scared of where Shinrou had gone.

He opened his eyes and felt a cutting pain in his hand. He was holding the red blade of Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo in his hand, with blood dripping onto the floor.

"You surprised me." The zanpakuto scoffed. "I honestly thought you'd actually run away. Honestly, you probably should have."

The blade slashed, and blood splattered from Kujako's hand. He yelled out in pain, and before he had time to react, the blade came slashing back down, but this time across his chest. He fell back with a scowl on his face. _Kashito...I'm sorry._

* * *

Kashito glared at Akamusa with a gaze that would have frozen anyone else. "You were the one?"

Akamusa nodded. "I killed Shinrou Sanji."

Kashito was trying his best to contain his rage. "I should have known as much." He snarled. "Two years ago, he felt the same power as Jason and Liomara, and went to go fight it with them. He left me here and told me to stay put no matter what. I obeyed. And to this day, it is my greatest regret. If I had gone with him...If we'd fought you together, he would be alive today."

"You are wrong about that." Akamusa said. "You have no idea...the full scope of my power. You have no idea what I am truly capable of. Even when I trained you...I showed nowhere near my true capabilities."

"Prove it."

"No. I have no need to."

Kashito found it strange that Shinrou was saying nothing this whole time. "Is it true, Shinrou?"

"I am sorry, Little Cousin." Shinrou responded solemnly. "With the way you are now, you may be better off joining Master Akamusa."

Kashito finally could no longer hold his rage, and it all exploded at once. He yelled and let out his energy, and suddenly every tree within a half-kilometer radius had turned to ice. Akamusa and Shinrou had disappeared as well. The effects of the Akurai Forest had subsided since many of the trees were frozen. Kashito put a hand on his forehead. "Damn." He muttered. "That was just a nightmare. Not even I'm immune to the induction of the nightmares." Then he flicked his head around. _Oh no! Dominick and Kujako are still fighting! And it seems like they're in trouble! _

He flew up above the forest and made a beeline back toward his home. Dominick's fighting energy was decreasing, but Kujako's energy had just skyrocketed. He'd turned into a Super Saiyan 5. _Damn it!_ He cursed himself. _These invaders of Otherworld are stronger than I had imagined. _He flew faster. Clearing the forest with his home coming into view, Kujako's energy suddenly dropped off to almost nothing. Kashito scowled and kept going. His time was severely limited. He landed outside his front door and sprinted in the house to see Kujako lying on the floor with a massive gash across his chest. He then watched as Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo plunged his blade through Dominick's right hand.

"NO!" He cried out, lunging at the zanpakuto.

Jinseiou Hikari Seigyo turned around and was kicked straight in the face, sending him flying right over Dominick's body. He did a few flips in the air, then skidded and landed while kneeling on the ground. "You came too late." He smirked. "My bankai's effects have already started to work on the boy. He will be dead in less than a minute."

"You bastard!" Kashito yelled.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be. There's something I've been wanting to take care of for a while now." He nonchalantly began to walk out of Kashito's home.

"I won't let you get away with this." Kashito scowled.

"You should be with your student before he dies." Hikari Seigyo returned to his shikai state and proceeded to leave the scene, knowing that Kashito wouldn't come after him with Dominick dying in his arms.

Kashito picked up his student, whose face was bloodied and had multiple broken bones.

"Kashito…" Dominick muttered.

"Don't speak." The Naga consoled him.

"Quick…" He managed. "Cut off...my arm."

"What?" Kashito stammered. "Would that even work?"

"I don't...know...but even if it doesn't...I'm going to die...either way...so we have to try…"

Kashito cursed. He shut his eyes. A split-second idea came to his head. If it worked it would be better than cutting off the arm. But he didn't have any time to think. Dominick's life energy was escaping through the wound in his hand. He hovered his hand over Dominick's, and extended his energy out.

Dominick was watching Kashito. "Hurry...up...I can...handle it…" His vision was getting blurry as he was losing consciousness.

He thought he heard Kashito sigh. "I think it's working…" He heard a muffled voice say. Then his vision went black.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was look down at his hand. _Did I die again?_ He thought. His hand was covered in ice. He still felt woozy, but most of the pain was gone. "What happened?" He muttered. "How did I survive?"

"You're awake already? That was fast." Kashito called. He was in the middle of treating Kujako's wounds.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"Only about a half hour."

"How did you save me?"

"I infused a barrier-type energy with my ice and froze your hand. It's keeping your life energy inside, which is keeping you alive."

"I can't believe that worked."

"You should be careful." Kashito warned. "I don't know if you'll ever be able to remove that ice from your hand without losing your life energy. If it cracks, assume that you're dead. Also, your life energy hasn't fully recovered."

"I see." Dominick muttered. "What about the others? Are they okay? Did they win?"

"As far as my senses tell me, the only fight that hasn't concluded is that between Lisa and her zanpakuto." Kashito explained. "Soriyamo, Shirako, and Kasae are all seriously wounded, but their life forces are stable. Kujako is hurt pretty bad as well, but he'll live. Everyone else is relatively unharmed so far."

"Dalton is okay?" He asked, and got an affirmative response from Kashito. He smiled. "Thank you, Kashito. For saving me. I can't afford to be killed just yet."


	57. A Moral Questioning

_Chapter XCIX__: A Moral Questioning_

Martin was able to carry Shirako safely back to the house due to Mr. Rievere's intervention with Jiino Hiyuka. He entered the house to find no one in the main room. "What's going on, Shirako?"

"Everyone with a zanpakuto...has been attacked like I was." Shirako managed. "I believe...a man has invaded Otherworld and created these evil versions of our zanpakuto. It is not as if our zanpakuto have revolted, since I was still able to use Yabokami Seigyo."

Martin's face turned into a scowl. "Those abilities...to be able to create evil clones of someone...they remind me too much of Hangyaku."

"Hangyaku...the man that created Dominick's Black Sclera, right? You explained it when Dominick fought Liomara four months ago."

"Yeah." Martin muttered. "I'm sure...whatever is happening now is somehow related to him."

"I feel Lisa, Rari, and a couple others down in the training room fighting Togosari Seigyo." Shirako said. "I cannot fight right now, but I will survive. They need your help, Martin."

"I know, Shirako." Martin responded. "But first, take some of my energy."

"You'll need it."

"Don't fight." Martin told him. "It's for my peace of mind. I can't just leave you without helping at all."

Just then, Sairyo came in through the northern entrance, carrying an unconscious Kasae on her back. "Martin…" She stuttered. "You came back after all this time…"

"Sairyo!" He exclaimed. "Is Kasae alright? Are _you _alright?"

"I'm fine." She said. "You came back at a perfect time, though." As if on cue, Waichei walked in the house from the other entrance, carrying Soriyamo on his back just as Sairyo was with Kasae. "Both Kasae and Soriyamo seem to need immediate medical attention." She explained.

Shirako gave a pained grunt in agreement, but as Waichei set Soriyamo on the floor, he glared in his direction.

"He's losing a lot of blood out of the gash on his stomach." Waichei muttered. "That should be the priority to save his life."

Sairyo set Kasae on the floor next to Soriyamo. "Martin, I'll need your help. You're the only other one here who has trained under Shirako, albeit for only a month. I need you to help close Soriyamo's wound while I treat Kasae."

"I can stop the bleeding, but Lisa and the others need our help down in the training room." Martin responded.

"I can help Lisa and the others." Martin and Shirako both stared as Waichei stood tall above them. "Leave it to me."

Sairyo nodded at him without any thought. "Thanks, Waichei. I owe you another one."

"No, I still owe all of you." Waichei smiled.

Shirako scowled. "I won't allow it." He demanded. "I don't trust you to protect them."

Then, Martin and Sairyo looked over to the wounded man. "Shirako, this isn't the time-"

"Sairyo, you don't understand. This man…" Shirako trailed off.

"Listen, Shirako." Waichei said. "I know you don't trust me, and I am not sure if you ever will, but right now, who else is capable of going down there to help? Sairyo? Martin? If one of them goes down there, then either Kasae or Soriyamo will likely die. We don't have another choice." With that, he turned around and headed to the underground training room.

"Listen, Waichei." Shirako stared him dead in the eye. "If anything happens to any one of them because of you...you answer to me."

"I know, Shirako. I know."

* * *

"Lisa!" Rari exclaimed. "You need to run away. He's here for you. He wants to kill you!"

"I know." Lisa replied. "But you're the ones who should run away."

"No, we need to be here to help you." Rari protested.

"It will be difficult for you to do anything." Lisa told him. "You cannot avoid the attack he just launched unless you are a certain distance away."

"But we thought…"

"It is not an auditory attack as you thought. The attack propagates through the air as a wave. Regardless of whether or not you can hear it, the wave will still hit you, and you will feel like your surroundings are collapsing in on you. Like you are being trapped in a small box that you can't escape. That is Togosari Seigyo's ability: to induce severe claustrophobia."

"Well said, Lisa." Her zanpakuto mocked with slow claps. "You sure know me well."

"I must know you well." She said. "To make up for my low combat power, I have become more that well versed with my zanpakuto. You know this. In all of Otherworld, nobody has a higher reiatsu than I do."

"Yes, I know that." Togosari Seigyo muttered while rolling his eyes. "But you know what that means? It means that out of all the zanpakuto in Otherworld, I am the strongest."

"That means nothing to me." Lisa told him. "You must know this as well; anyone touching the blade of Togosari Seigyo will be immune to its claustrophobic effects. That means no specialized attacks will be effective against either of us."

"Yes. That means that this battle will be determined by our skill with the blade and our fighting prowess." Togosari Seigyo smiled. "I find nothing wrong with that."

Lisa looked back at Rari. "I stopped by Kaoren and Nyoriyo on the way here." She said. "I touched Nyoriyo with my blade, so he should be able to breathe by now. Go to him and make sure he's okay."

Rari was struggling to make words. He wanted to say that he was going to stay and help, he didn't want to disobey. She seemed so mature. Despite the fact that she was nearly seven years younger than he was when they both died, she had grown into a much more eloquent, mature, and beautiful woman than he could have ever imagined. Then he knew that she would be okay. He trusted her to survive. "Liomara would be proud of you." He smiled. "You've grown so strong in just a couple of months."

She smiled back at him. "It's only because of you, Rari." She told him. "I love you. Now go."

He and Yosuhiro promptly turned around and left Lisa to fight her zanpakuto. They flew back toward the entrance, and roughly halfway there, Kaoren and Nyoriyo were waiting for them.

"Will Lisa be alright?" Yosuhiro asked.

"Yeah." Rari said. "I trust her."

Kaoren looked at the two of them. "She seems as if she's not the same woman she was before Liomara attacked." Then, Nyoriyo sat up with a pained face. "Are you ok?" His brother asked him.

"Yeah." He replied. "I can breathe fine now, but my body is just stiff."

"So, are we going to go help her?" Kaoren asked.

"She told us to wait back here." Yosuhiro said.

"We would only be in her way at this point. She is immune to his attacks, but we aren't." Rari explained. "It's because her opponent is her own zanpakuto."

"Speaking of that," Yosuhiro brought up. "You never told us what's going on here. Why is her zanpakuto attacking her? Aren't the zanpakuto supposed to be on our side?"

Rari looked serious. "I don't know for sure. Three days ago, Lisa told me that she felt a pulse. She said that she couldn't tell whether or not the pulse came from her zanpakuto, or her soul. That's all I know. I'm guessing it was then that a piece of her zanpakuto was taken. I don't know if it was forcefully removed, or if it left on its own. It's still a mystery. I don't think she knows either."

"So how do we help her?"

"A surprise attack should do." A voice said. Waichei dropped from above them to the ground. "I overheard most of the conversation. Lisa's immune to the attacks, and we aren't. But that doesn't mean she'll have an easy time. I think we do still need to help her."

"I like that idea." Rari immediately agreed.

Nyoriyo nodded. Both Kaoren and Yosuhiro looked at them in confusion, as if questioning why they so easily trusted the man. Waichei, too, looked at Rari and said, "you trust me so easily. I thank you for that."

"You saved Sairyo's life." Rari told him. "That's all I need to know you're a comrade. Those burn scars are proof."

Kaoren sighed. "I agree that we need to help Lisa. I'm willing to get past my distrust of Waichei."

Yosuhiro folded his arms. "I don't agree with it, but I'll go along with you guys."

"I never distrusted Waichei to begin with." Nyoriyo said, smiling.

"That's because you're too trusting, Nyoriyo." Kaoren scolded.

Waichei laughed it off. "If we're all ready, let's come up with a plan."

* * *

Kashito eyed Dominick with a serious look. "You can't afford to die yet?" He muttered. "You plan on finding the man behind this, don't you?"

"I must." Dominick declared. "The evil version of Hikari Seigyo has escaped, hasn't he?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I was forced to let him go in order to save you and Kujako."

"I have to find his creator. His name is Jiino Hiyuka."

"That doesn't ring a bell." Kashito said. "But he was probably the man I left to find prior to you getting here and fighting Hikari Seigyo."

"Where was he?" Dominick asked.

"I sensed him deep in the Southern forest. It was a power I had never felt before, so I tracked it there, but it was gone when I got there. He is very elusive. I never even sensed him leave."

"Really?" Dominick asked. "That's a lot, coming from you. He must be something else. Regardless, I've got to find him."

"And what do you plan to do when you find him?" Kashito asked. "Do you plan to take your revenge?"

Dominick froze. "Revenge?" He questioned. That was more directed toward himself than at Kashito. "Maybe."

"You should be careful with the motive of revenge." Kashito warned him. "All of your friends are still alive. Most of the zanpakuto have been defeated. The revenge you speak of is revenge to satisfy anger. Not all revenge is bad. There is revenge for the purpose of avenging, and there is revenge from rage. You seem to have both motives within you right now."

Dominick looked down, as if looking within himself. "Revenge...I think revenge is a valid motive." He said as if trying to protest, but his voice sounded unsure.

"I just want you to think about it." Kashito told him. "Look within yourself, and you will become a better fighter, and a better person."

"Look...within myself?"

"You are still very young, and lack a lot of experience that most other people have in Otherworld. You act on emotion a lot of the time, and that could end up being your downfall one day. Anger, especially, can lead you to do something you wouldn't normally do."

Dominick thought of the Black Sclera, and then he thought of Katsu, from nearly a year ago. He shook his head slowly.

"Ask yourself as well...of the people you are trying to avenge right now...Jason, Liomara, and you told me about Gogito...have any of them asked you to avenge them?"

Dominick was silent.

Kashito sighed slowly. "Don't think about it too much right now, or it could disrupt you while you are fighting. Just be careful, okay?" The mentor gave a soft smile.

The student shook himself out of his thoughts. "I need to get going." He said, back to his lively self, at least on the surface. He began to run out the door. On his way out, he called back to Kashito, "by the way, I never knew you had healing powers!"

The Naga grinned and called back, "who do you think taught Shirako?"

Dominick smiled, then his feet left the ground and he took off flying.

Kashito looked back at Kujako. _And it was Shinrou who taught me, and the one who taught him was...Akamusa. _His face slightly contorted, as if he was in pain, but it was more of a deep thought. _Shinrou...if I had been there when you died, would you have asked me to avenge you? _

He laughed to himself. "I just got done lecturing my student about something I'm struggling with myself. What kind of mentor am I? Then his face went serious. The more he thought about it, the more his rage began to boil, and the more he had to work to contain it. "Shinrou, I really hope you would want me to avenge you. If you don't, then I'm sorry." He muttered to himself. "Because right now, there is nothing more that I want than to take my revenge on Akamusa for what he did to you."


End file.
